How Safe is Wifi?
More and more people are setting up wireless networks to connect computers in different parts of their homes. All you need is a wireless router plugged into the Internet and network adapters for each machine. Instead of long cables, radio signals are used to connect the computers, which allows them to share that single high-speed connection. Wireless networks are easy to set up and relatively inexpensive. But with convenience comes security issues.
Going wireless means you are broadcasting your Internet connection outside your home.
These high-frequency networks have a range of about 30 meters or more, traveling further than the walls of your house. Very few home users realize that they have to secure their networks: They just plug it in, it works and that’s all they care about … but that’s like having a live Internet connection right outside their house for anyone to use. Without any security, anyone with a wireless-enabled laptop or handheld computer can use your network. They can get free Internet access, steal information stored in your computers, or use your system to attack something else.
This security weakness has led to wardriving, which involves driving around with a wireless-enabled device and finding wireless networks. There are those who consider it a hobby; they do it out of curiosity and to call attention to the extent of the security problem. Then there are those who use wardriving for criminal intent. Identifying the networks isn’t illegal, but accessing them is. There are no definitive numbers on how many homeowners’ wireless networks are compromised every year, but it’s happening at an alarmingly high rate.
In 2003, a Toronto man was charged after police found him driving half-naked, using a wireless Internet connection from one of the houses to download child porn. In that case, he was caught, If he hadn’t gotten caught and there was an ongoing investigation … police can be knocking at your door for accessing child porn sites.
Approximately 60 to 70 per cent of home user wireless networks are completely open, with no security measures in place. About 40 per cent are left in default configuration, pretty much the way it comes out of the box. If a hacker can identify what hardware is being used on the home user’s network, he can easily find out the factory settings that came with the device; if a user hasn’t changed any of the settings, then that network is wide open to the hacker.
Bottom line is that the end user is responsible for their Internet connection. If someone else uses it to do something illegal, the onus is on you to prove that it wasn’t you. And how do you do that if there’s no way to identify who was in your network at any given time.
Help Secure your Wireless Network
Like everything else that involves the Internet, there is no absolute protection for wireless networks. Those with intent will try to break in; you need to layer your security measures for deterrence. If you secure the wireless end of your system, protect your computers and follow safe practices, it’s more likely intruders will move on to another, more vulnerable system.
Change the SSID default setting and turn its broadcast off. Service Set Identifier (SSID) identifies the network name. Wireless network devices use it to tell wireless networks apart.If a home user doesn’t change the out-of-the-box setting, hackers who know that the network exists can systematically enter all the known default settings until they hit upon the right name. When changing your SSID, don’t use your address or your last name, The SSID shouldn’t identify who or where you are.”
Change the default password. Use a strong password to protect your access point. Filter MAC addresses. A Media Access Control (MAC) address identifies each device attached to a wireless network. You can enable MAC address filtering to specify which computers have access to your network.Though some hackers may be able to get around this, it’s another layer of protection.
Enable encryption. Use the highest level of encryption available to your network, new models use Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and older versions use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), considered flawed by many security consultants. But it’s still a form of encryption, and again another layer of security. Given that someone can drive another 50 feet and find another access point that’s wide open, it’s a good deterrent.”
How can one protect a Business Wireless Network from Attack?
There are not many variations to what has already been discussed above. In a commercial environment you have more to loose from an attack than you may realize. I often hear from potential clients things like “We don’t have anything sensitive that any body would want” or i hear “We are just a small company who in the world would want to target us, when they could target a much larger enterprise with more data”. Truth of the matter is that these are the same businesses that call us when they either terminate an employee or have a hard disk failure, and then all of a sudden the data is mission critical. That story for another day.
But in a commercial enterprise, the smaller you are the greater the chances of being hacked by less professional hacker. There are four groups of hackers as follows:
- Kiddy Hacker
- Experienced Hacker
- Professional Ethical Hacker
- Professional Criminal Hacker
Each one have their purpose in life. It’s more than likely that a small business will be hacked by a Kiddy Hacker who is simply learning his trade, while the experienced hacker is no longer learning, but sharpening his tools and tactics. The other two groups are both professionals. The Ethical hacker does what he does, because he has been hired to prevent the criminal hacker from breaking past all defenses by doing so in advance and discovering the security holes so that they can be fixed before an attack. The professional criminal hacker is the guy that does what he does to steal sensitive data for public sale or for corporate sabotage.
How can a Business Safe Guard its Data and still use a Wireless Network
Like bees are to a honeycomb, to truly and drastically reduce the risk of attack. A company should engage the use of a honey pot. By using a honey pot, and no we’re not talking about a pot full of honey, we’re referring to the mechanism of drowning out legitimate wireless signal with hundreds and even thousands of wireless signals that are nothing more than a distraction.
Take for example: Our offices have wireless router and repeaters setup to allow authorized personnel access to the network. However the SSID is not broadcasting and we do MAC address filtering. We have also setup a honey pot do that any attempt to scan the airwaves will yield 100’s and 1000’s of SSID’s to choose from. Ladies and gentlemen what we just did was take the hacker from main street America and throw them into a wireless jungle with more to choose from than they know what to do with.
The hacker has so many SSID’s that are being broadcasted that the chances of them latching onto your un-broadcasted signal is dramatically reduced. Fight fire with fire i say.
What should you do if you suspect you’ve been hacked?
If you suspect that your wireless network has been hacked and you have some basic knowledge, then one of the first things i would do is turn of your wireless router, or at least disconnect it from the LAN (Local Area Network) Then seek professional help, by that i am referring to a company or a consultant that knows what to look for, how to measure the damage and what to do to recover from the issue.
If you are looking for a professional company with the knowledge and expertise to help you secure your wireless network then complete the form below and a client services rep will contact you to see how and if we can help given your circumstances.