Tag Archives: Wireless

Unsecured WiFi Mapped Out.

Buying a wireless router for your home WiFi network, or having it sent to you free of charge by your ISP should guarantee a secure network.

Unfortunately, this is not the case and the list of default passwords for each brand of equipment is well known. If you have a wireless PC or laptop, you just need to look at the list of available networks in the area, and the type of encryption used. The first piece of information is giving you the manufacturer of the router. Few people know how to change the SSID from the default settings, never mind the authentication of the encryption on the network. This means that in a lot of cases, the wireless network can be access by anyone with little or no effort.

In most countries wardriving is legal( looking for open networks). What is illegal is to use the discovered network.

Why is the problem with open WiFi? You could be sharing the data on your computer, reveal your credential for internet banking (for example), and be legally liable for anything illegal taking place from your network .

When are manufacturers and ISPs going to start producing or supplying equipment that can either properly secure itself ? May be what is needed is equipment with a proper set of instructions usable by the general public.

NetSafe has been wardriving in  the suburbs of Wellington, and the results are sobering. Have a look at this article describing the results.

www.stuff.co.nz

NEWTOWN’S WiFi NETWORKS

 

Technologies Available For a Secure Wireless Network

How to secure wireless networks?

In this easy to understand article, John Laster describes ten different technologies used to secure wireless networks. A lot of these can be extended to wired networks.

Most of those technologies can be implemented at home to secure wireless networks. The most commonly used  should be WPA2-PSK.  I would not recommend using WEP  as it would be too easy for amateur hackers to crack.

Remember that you are legally responsible for the action of the users on your network.

Wireless Security

Using WPA/WPA2