How secure is your wireless network?

Wireless networks are pretty much now seen as the norm for connecting to the internet and are found in virtually every home with a broadband connection, but just how secure are they?

As an experiment I recently pulled up in a street, opened my laptop up and found a non-secured wireless connection. I connected up and had instant internet access. I did a little bit of searching and found files on the network that were on the connection owner's computer! Anyone with basic knowledge of a computer and file sharing would have been able to do this, plus with the correct software I could have also detected what information was being passed between the user's computer and the internet, for example credit card details.

I then tried to connect to the router configuration and because the default passwords for the router had not been changed when it was setup I had full control over the router. The internet connection username contained the home telephone number, so from this I was able to do a search on the internet to find the address of the home the router was in. Once I had the address I knocked on the door and explained what I had been able to do, much to the shock of the home owner! I explained how it should be configured and secured it all down for them.

So, if you have a wireless connection in your home for your broadband I strongly urge you to check;

1. The router default password has been changed
2. The wireless connection is secured with either WPA or WPA2 encryption
3. Ensure that you have a working firewall on your computer
4. Think about whether you really need to have WIFI enabled. If you have just 1 PC and it is right next to the router a cable connection with WIFI disabled on the router would be far more secure.

If you're not sure about the state of your wireless security or would like further details then please contact us on 0845 474 8956 or see www.oxforditsolutions.com.