The pitfalls of a home home WIFI net work

I am sure you heard; the Senate's website was hacked , just one of many breach of security to hit a major U.S. based institution. The Sergeant at Arms Office, which provides security for the Senate, said that the breach had not compromised any individual senator's information.

Home wireless networks can be attacked much easer, because of free and widely available Wi-Fi cracking programs like Gerix WiFi Cracker, Aircrack-ng and Wifite. The programs work by faking legitimate user activity to collect a series of so-called weak keys or clues to the password. WiFi has now become a mainstream technology. WiFi Access Points are increasingly being deployed by home users and organizations. Laptops and smartphones now come equipped with built-in WiFi connection capability. Incidents of WiFi hacking & malicious use are on the rise. People are downloading illegal content like music through home WiFi connections or using the connection to send malicious attacks.

Tips to protect Wi-Fi

Disconnect your computer from the Internet when you aren't using it. I know that sounds very simple. The idea is to make you a hard target. technologies such as DSL and cable WIFI modems have made it possible for users to be broadcast their signals all the time. The likelihood that attackers or viruses scanning the network for available computers will target your computer becomes much higher if your computer is always connected. Depending on what method you use to connect to the Internet, disconnecting may mean disabling a wireless connection, turning off your computer or modem, or disconnecting cables.

Modern network routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option also exists to disable them. Ensure that your router's firewall is turned on. For extra protection, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router.

Each piece of Wi-Fi gear possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment, that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices.

All Wi-Fi equipment supports some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist for Wi-Fi today. WEP-encrypted password (for wired equivalent privacy) is not as strong as a WPA (or Wi-Fi protected access) password, so it’s best to use a WPA password instead. Even so, hackers can use the same free software programs to get on WPA password-protected networks as well. It just takes much longer (think weeks) and more computer expertise.

Disabled SSID broadcast. In Wi-Fi networking, the wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where Wi-Fi clients may roam in and out of range. In the home, this roaming feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood someone will try to log in to your home network.