Making Home Wireless Network Safe.

If you have got high-speed Internet access at home, you may also have a wireless network. Many users like to be able to move their computers around without having to move or change cables. Others have wireless networks without even realizing it: they use a cable to connect to a cable modem that has the wireless feature built in and turned on, even though they aren’t using it.

But wireless access in your house may mean you’re sacrificing the security of your computers or aiding cybercriminals in their attacks on others.

The heart of a home wireless setup is a small device called a “wireless hub” or a “network access point.” Often, these devices are provided by your Internet service provider, but they can also be bought in computer and office supply stores. Installing them is generally as simple as plugging them in and following a few instructions. Unfortunately, the instructions often don’t include information about preventing unauthorized use of your network.

If you don’t activate security, your network may be used by anyone close enough to receive the signal that your network access point sends out. How far this is depends on many factors, but it’s not unusual for the signals to reach to nearby buildings or to the street. Cybercriminals frequently drive around looking for these wireless signals (this is called “wardriving”), parking outside the building and logging into the network when they find a signal.

With access to the Internet via your wireless connection, criminals can attack distant targets anonymously. They can also attack you, using vulnerabilities in your system software to gain access to the files on your hard drive. They might steal personal information such as bank account numbers; they might use space on your hard drive to store illegal materials such as child pornography. When the police come looking for the criminals, they’ll be coming to your house.

You can protect your network by changing a few settings on your network access point (or by simply confirming that the original installation performed these steps). Because different network access points are configured differently, we can’t provide specific instructions here, but usually it’s as simple as using the browser on your computer to access a special address (in the instruction manual), where you’ll find some forms that control the settings on the device. Here are settings you can change to enhance your security:

Change the administrator’s password for access to the controls you are using. This prevents hackers from turning off your security changes once you’ve made them.
Turn off “beaconing” or “broadcasting” of your “SSID.” This means you won’t see your network when you ask your computer to look for available networks (but it will still work when you type in the network name yourself). This change means hackers won’t see your network and won’t know it’s there to be attacked.

Turn on WEP (or, if your system supports it, the newer WPA) encryption. Again, see the specific instructions for your access point. This will mean creating a special password and then entering that password in all the computers you want to allow to use your network. Anyone who doesn’t have the password can’t use the network, hackers included.