Hughes Business Systems, Inc.
HBS provides fully customized home and business solutions for
all your computer networking needs
| HBSInc can help you wade through
the complexities of Wired and Wireless Security. Let us help you setup
your network! The number of homes with high-speed Internet connections is rapidly increasing. Since the connection is always on, you can access the World Wide Web, make purchases, access your bank account, and even pay your bills online at any time without tying up a phone line. But with the convenience of broadband access also comes the risk of Internet intruders. There are a growing number of threats to your network's safety and security, such as viruses, spam e-mail, and hackers. Identity theft is also a very serious and growing issue, as someone could access your confidential and personal information. Consider several scenarios of an unprotected wired or wireless network:
|
|
|
|
HBSInc offers a variety of security features that help to protect your networked computers and put your concerns at ease. To help you better understand these security features, they are divided into two levels: Basic Level: Network Address Translation (NAT) Technology - Prevents hackers from seeing and attacking your network address while you are surfing the web. NAT takes a public IP address and translates it into several private IP addresses, so a computer behind a router with NAT technology is difficult to see by outside hackers. Most routers and gateways include NAT security. Advanced Level: Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) Firewall - Inspects packets of information coming into your system to make sure they are not an attack from a hacker. When information is requested from a Web site, it is sent out through the SPI router and is noted as a request destination. Any unfamiliar or unlisted destinations are rejected. Some routers include this security feature-check your product documentation. Virtual Private Network (VPN) - Enables communication over the Internet with another computer on your network using a secure, encrypted connection. VPNs are frequently used by businesses and home offices. It is commonly used by people traveling or working from their home who want to connect to their company's network to check e-mail or access business applications. Wireless Security Steps: Networking makes it easy to share Internet access and data. But you wouldn't want to share your information with just anyone. With a wireless network, your information is traveling through the airwaves, not physical wires, so anyone within range can "listen in" on your network. Below are five essential security measures you should take to secure your wireless network. |
|
|
|
1. Change the default password For wireless products such as access points and routers, you will be asked for a password when you want to change their settings. These devices have a default password set by the factory. Hackers know these defaults and will try them to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To thwart any unauthorized changes, customize the device's password so it will be hard to guess. 2. Change the default SSID Your wireless devices have a default SSID (Service Set Identifier) set by the factory. The SSID is the name of your wireless network, and can be up to 32 characters. Wireless products use default SSID's. Hackers know these defaults and can use them to join your network. Change the network's SSID to something unique, and make sure it doesn't refer to the networking products you use. As an added precaution, be sure to change the SSID on a regular basis, so any hacker who may have figured out your network's SSID in the past will have to figure out the SSID again and again. This will deter future intrusion attempts. 3. Enable WPA Encryption Encryption allows protection for data that is transmitted over a wireless network. Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) offer different levels of security for wireless communication. WPA is considered to be more secure than WEP, because it uses dynamic key encryption. To protect the information as it passes over the airwaves, you should enable the highest level of encryption that is supported by your network equipment. Learn more about WPA. 4. Disable SSID broadcast By default, most wireless networking devices are set to broadcast the SSID, so anyone can easily join the wireless network with just this information. But hackers will also be able to connect, so unless you're running a public hotspot, it's best to disable SSID broadcast. You may think it is more convenient to broadcast your SSID so that you can click on it to join your network, but you can configure the devices on your network to automatically connect to a specific SSID without broadcasting the SSID from your router. 5. Enable MAC address filtering Most routers give you the ability to enable MAC (Media Access Control) address filtering. The MAC address is a unique series of numbers and letters assigned to every networking device. With MAC address filtering enabled, wireless network access is provided solely for wireless devices with specific MAC addresses. For example, you can specify only the computers in your house to access your wireless network. It would be very difficult for a hacker to access your network using a random MAC address. A wireless network requires additional steps to keep your network secure. Multiple layers of security will make it more difficult for hackers to access your network. Below is a chart of some of layers of implementing security. |
| WIRED | WIRELESS |
| VPN (Virtual Private Network) | VPN (Virtual Private Network) |
| SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) | WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) |
| NAT (Network Address Translation) | WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy) |
| Mac Address Filtering | |
| SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) | |
| NAT (Network Address Translation) |