February 28, 2011
Networking allows you to share Internet data and access files and folders across systems easily. But one does not want to share his information and data with just anyone. With the help of a wireless network, your information is moving through the air medium, not physical wires, so anyone within the range can intrude your network. There are five substantive security measures you should take to procure your wireless network.
Change the default connection password:
All the Access points and routers have a default password set by the company. You will be asked for a password whenever you want to make alterations to the network settings. Hackers are aware of these default passwords and will seek them to have illegal access to your wireless device and alter your network settings. To avoid any unauthorized alterations, change the password and make it hard to guess.
Modify the default SSID:
Your wireless network devices have a default SSID (Service Set Identifier) which is set by the company. The SSID is the name of your wireless network, and it can be up to the length of 23 characters. Modify your network’s SSID to something unique, and ensure it does not refer to any networking products you own. As an extra precaution, make it a point to modify the SSID regularly.
Enable WPA Encryption:
Encryption allows security for the data that is being communicated over a wireless network. Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) and WiFi Protected Access (WPA) extend unlike degrees of security for wireless communication. WPA is addressed to be safer than WEP, because it makes use of the dynamic key encryption.
Disable SSID broadcast:
Automatically, most of the wireless networking devices are typeset to broadcast the SSID, so any person can effortlessly join the wireless network with just this info. This is advantageous for the hackers, so unless you own a public hotspot, the best idea is to disable the SSID broadcast. You certainly will believe that it is handier to broadcast your SSID so that you are able to click on it to join the network, but in addition you can configure the devices on your network to automatically connect to a specific SSID without transmitting the SSID from the router.
Enable MAC address filtering.
Some routers provide you the power to enable MAC address filtering. The MAC address is a distinct series of figures and letters allotted to every networking device. With MAC address filtering, you can determine which computers can obtain access to your network. It would be quite difficult for a hacker to find your network using a random MAC address.
To know more about Networking and computer security, please visit Centex Technologies. We can be contacted on (254) 213-4740 and (800) 236-1497 (Toll Free).