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Wireless is just so cool, but it is also a security nightmare. Do you know how to address the dangers of wireless by enabling the security features on your router? Time
- ABA Groups
- Resources for Lawyers
- About Us
Wireless is just so cool, but it is also a security nightmare. Do you know how to address the dangers of wireless by enabling the security features on your router? Time to learn how.
Few things are more seductive than a wireless network. Once you install one, you will be struck by computing wanderlust the instant you walk around your home or office with a wireless laptop. You will never want to go back to a hard-wired PC.
Today, wireless hardware is dirt cheap and easy to use. However, most people don’t realize that a wireless network is a tempting and very obvious target for hackers. Using wireless without security is the same as putting a giant neon sign on your front lawn that reads, “FREE Internet connection here.” Anyone cruising by with a wireless-equipped laptop can freeload on your Internet connection—and possibly gain access to your network and data.
When wireless hardware first became widely available, manufacturers shipped it with all security features enabled. Assuming that most users want to be as secure as possible, this was eminently logical. The practical result, however, was that most people couldn’t get wireless to work because the security prevented them from connecting. The brilliant solution: Ship everything with all security disabled, then you just plug it in and it works. This makes wireless dead easy to set up and use, but it creates a huge security hole because anyone can easily and instantly connect to your network.
It’s true that wireless security standards are evolving for the better. The latest standard (802.11i) offers far better security than older standards (being, from least to most secure, 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g). However, you must remember that with enough time and effort, a determined hacker can still break into most wireless systems. The key to protecting your data is to make hacking into your network as difficult as possible. You do this by enabling all possible security features on your router.
This month I will guide you through seven configuration changes you can make to enable and increase the security on a typical consumer-type router.
You access router configuration settings through a Web-based interface by connecting to the router with your browser. In most cases, entering a standard default gateway address of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 will allow you to access this interface. Open this interface, and work through the following changes. Check your router manual for directions specific to your router.
#1: Change the default router password. Access to configuration interfaces is usually secured by a password. Routers are manufactured with a standard or default password. Yours will be in your router manual. These passwords are often common words (like “password” or “admin”) and are widely available on the Web. Changing the default password makes it much harder for a hacker to access a router’s configuration interface.
#2: Disable remote router access. Many routers have a remote administration feature that allows configuration changes to be made across the Internet. This is helpful for IT people, but it also allows hackers to access your router across the Internet. Disable remote administration to close this backdoor to your network.
Note that turning off remote access also prevents you from making configuration changes to the router across a wireless connection. After making this change, you will have to connect to your router with an Ethernet cable to make configuration changes.
#3: Disable SSID broadcasting. Routers broadcast a service set identifier (SSID) so they are easy to locate and connect to. This SSID is the name of your wireless network. The radio signal from your router radiates in a sphere 30 to 50 yards or more in diameter. SSID broadcasting is the neon sign advertising the existence of your network to all t