Secure Your Wireless Network... Please!

In this day and age of high anxiety regarding identity theft and credit card abuse one would think that keeping information secure would be a top priority for computer users everywhere. This is why I'm surprised by how many people don't take the time to secure their wireless networks in their home or home office.

In the past I have even gone so far as to demonstrate to my customers just how easy it is to snoop on their Internet activity by sitting in their driveway with my laptop and compiling all the information I can about them (with their permission of course). They are often shocked by just how easy it is for someone to obtain information that they thought was secure via their open wireless network connection.

And that's just the security and privacy aspect of it! I recently had a new client whose Internet had slowed down considerably, she was convinced that she had a virus or some other computer malady. When I came by to investigate I discovered that several people in her complex were freeloading off her open wireless connection, she had become the "free Internet" for the other condos in her area.

There are two things that I recommend everyone do to secure their wireless network, and a third tip if you want to be really secure. The first two steps are easy to implement, and are usually covered in the setup guide for your wireless router or access point:

1) Change the default password and identification (SSID) on your wireless router/access point. I have ever had clients who installed their own wireless network and end up having to call me because some prankster has locked them out of their own network using the default password for their router.

2) Set up some kind of encryption in your network. I prefer to use WPA, however WEP is better than nothing. This accomplishes two things: firstly, it means that in order to connect to your network a password is required, secondly it means that the traffic between your computer and the Internet, printer, and other machines on your network cannot be easily captured and viewed by a third party.

My final, more advanced, tip is to enable MAC address filtering. Every network card has a sort of serial number called a MAC address, and by setting up your router so that it will only accept connections from certain network cards, you have an added layer of security on your network. On a Macintosh running OS X you can find your MAC address by going to System Preferences -> Network -> Airport -> Advanced, the MAC address is the "Airport ID". On a PC, open up a command line (Start -> Run -> cmd) and type in 'ipconfig /all' (no quotes), the MAC address will be the "Physical Address" in the output. You can follow the instructions for your particular wireless router to enable filtering and enter the MAC addresses from all the devices on your network as the only machines allowed to connect.

By securing your network you are not only protecting your personal information, you are also making sure that the Internet bandwidth you pay for is reserved for your use!