Enjoying UKW from the comfort of my own bed :D

[Anonymous]

Are there any security problems with this equipment, can somebody sit outside your home in a motor car and sneak in?

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!

Standard installation on these kits is as secure as a wide open door with a 'please burgle my house' sign on your lawn

The default configuration is completely hackable on most kits and the user needs to add and configure their own security or face the consequences. According to me and our university's IT dept. wireless internet kits win hands down as the weakest point in any system

 

[Midnight]

wireless internet kits win hands down as the weakest point in any system

ye canna beat good auld fashioned copper connections.... :wink:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Standard installation on these kits is as secure as a wide open door with a 'please burgle my house' sign on your lawn

Yes, Tony is correct out of the box it is totally insecure.

But, in woodworking terms, spend fifteen minutes fettling and you have a perfectly secure system.

The problem is that a lot of people just won't bother. :roll:

Cheers
Neil

 

[thomaskennedy]

Are there any security problems with this equipment, can somebody sit outside your home in a motor car and sneak in?

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!

Standard installation on these kits is as secure as a wide open door with a 'please burgle my house' sign on your lawn

The default configuration is completely hackable on most kits and the user needs to add and configure their own security or face the consequences. According to me and our university's IT dept. wireless internet kits win hands down as the weakest point in any system

Do you mean hacking as in over the internet, or just someone sitting outside your house?
If the second then i really can't see many people driving round villages looking for wireless networks :roll:

There is also a fair degree of security, such as a network key (like a password) that you have to enter to connect (although it is only an option)....

Plus some other stuff too :wink:

Ta

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

Tom

I mean that the default configuration is not secure in any way, shape or form and ANYONE can easily get into the system. However, as Neil said, it is relatively simple to set up some security (over simple passwords) - just that most people don't know they need to and so don't do it.

People in the same street may be able to access a system wirelessly, not just someone in a car outside (WHO sits outside houses trying to hack systems????). This is what happened to a friend of our IT bod, the next door neighbour hacked his system as he had not protected himself.

I personally don't use wirelss networking as I don't have any need for it 'cause I have PCs all over the place - all connected to the web and so I can't provide wirelss specific advice but others will be able to.

 

[Anonymous]

OK then, time to get semi-technical!

All current wi-fi products support an encryption protocol called WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). This protocol isn't turned on by default, out of the box, but is easily enabled. The wireless access point/router and all computers using the wlan need to have WEP enabled, and be configured with the same encryption key (64 or 128 bit keys are the usual options). Without this key, external users cannot access your wireless network. Now, WEP is widely regarded as a very weak encryption protocol, and is easily hacked...so, WEP enabled will keep your average neighbour off your network, but not a determined hacker.

Another way to keep people off your network is to configure your router to not broadcast the network's SSID (Service Set IDentifier). Older routers always broadcast this SSID, but newer ones have the option of disabling that broadcast. For a wireless device to attach to your network, it has to provide this unique SSID. NEVER set your SSID to ANY, because that removes the requirement for wireless devides to provide the correct SSID. Now, the SSID is actually transmitted in plain text across the airwaves, and can therefore be easily sniffed, but as with WEP this would only be done by someone intent on hacking, not your average neighbour.

Finally, for now, the wireless manufacturers have agreed on a new standard of wireless encryption, called Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). This is an interim standard while the industry waits for the IEEE to ratiify a new standard called 802.11i. WPA is intended to be used in conjunction with a RADIUS server (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service), which is responsible for authenticating access requests to the network. This is how WPA would be used in a commercial environment...however, few home users have RADIUS servers lying around, so WPA also supports a Pre-Shared Key (PSK) as an alternatative. Unfortunately, using a PSK suffers the same security flaws as WEP - it's relatively easy to break the key. Recent reports have recommended using keys of greater than 20 characters length, mixing letters and numbers - this should make the hacking of the key harder. Pretty much all the newer wireless-g kit being sold these days supports WPA, but older stuff doesn't (including older wireless-g). Wireless-b knows nothing about WPA.

And that's about it. In summary, turn on your encryption, be it WEP or WPA, and hide your SSID. Choose your encryption keys wisely (not plain words). Do that, and you'll be relatively safe from hacking.

Oh, and all the above only refers to securing your wireless access - preventing hack attacks coming from the internet is an entirely different subject!

<phew> finished.

 

[Vormulac]

What he said Always change your defaults immediately, oh and set up MAC filtering, so only specific machines can actually utilise your router's connectivity.

For what it's worth (and I don't want to get into a shouting match here, it's just personal experience) I have never encountered a Centrino wireless solution that has worked properly, and believe me, doing freelance IT support I've encountered lots! The only way to get Centrino laptops to connect reliably is by sticking in a 3rd party wireless card (kind of defeats the object!).
On the other hand, I've never encountered a non-Centrino wireless laptop that hasn't worked perfectly! I'd consider that as a pattern emerging, but I'm sure there are plenty of folks here that will have differing opinions.

But in danger of straying back towards the original post, yeah, wireless is great - surfing the web from comfort of the bed or the sofa is truly indulgent!