Raining on the Tyne Bridge
No, I’m not talking about the seriously bad weather recently, I’m talking about network security, I recently attended at a “Data Protection and Security” workshop.
Just after being preached for about half an hour about regularly changing passwords and wireless access codes, a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy, sometimes wrongly referred to as Wireless Encryption Protocol) “secured” network was compromised in 5 minutes flat.
It occurred to me that many people make the mistake of not securing their wireless at all, so imagine how annoyed you’d be at having your network hacked because you’d picked up an old router or unwittingly selected WEP instead of WPA or WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access).
I’ve known all along that access to any wireless network should be minimised at all times, so, my home wireless only gets turned on if it’s needed. This may be seen as excessive, however if left on wireless networks are constantly broadcasting, and thus constantly vulnerable.
If you’re concerned, you can do the following to reduce the risk of being hacked.
- Make sure your router is configured to WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK.
- Change your Pre-Shared Key regularly, something fairly complex.
- Make your wireless SSID hidden.
- Lock down your router/access-point down to individual device MAC addresses.
- Turn off your router/access-point when not in use.
It’s all about managing and minimising risk, something everybody with a wireless home or business network should be aware of, especially if you use business or personal online banking.