is it safe to connect to an open wireless Internet connection using a linksys wireless pci card?
Is it safe to connect to an open internet connection wirelessly using a Linksys PCI wireless? I put the PCI card on the first computer and got a connection before installing the software for my Linksys PCI card using the windows wireless configuration. Is it safe to use, even if my router is not plugged into the computer back to my other? can someone give me some suggestions?
I am a specialist in information security. Read more:
• Change the System ID (SSID):
All access points wireless come with a default system ID called the Service Set Identifier (SSID) or Extended Service Set Identifier (ESSID). Similar to the administration password by default default SSID for wireless manufacturers are well known to hackers and are an easy target. Changing the SSID to something unique and not easily identifiable is another layer of defense. When you browse the wireless networks, SSID these are what you see.
• Disable SSID Broadcasts:
By default, all access points wirelessly broadcast the SSID in an attempt to mislead hackers. To make this change more effectively; broadcast disable this System ID. If you know the SSID that you can still connect to the access point wireless but not everyone within range of the wireless device will know it's there. * Note - the warning one here is the disabling of SSID broadcasts can sometimes cause problems when clients connect to the access point wireless for the first time.
• Enter and check the logs:
Logging on these wireless devices ranging from basic to robust.Log as much as you can and check them as often as reasonably possible to ensure that any attempted security violations are trapped.
• Protect your PC:
Although this does not seem to have a place in the section Configuring wireless security, the last line of defense must be the PC. Anti-virus, anti-spam, personal firewall, disk encryption are all excellent ways to maintain security of computers connecting to the access point and wireless help prevent the spread of Trojan horses, the worms and viruses to others connected to the access point wirelessly.
• Reduce transmitter power wireless:
You will not find this feature on all wireless routers and access points, but some allow you to reduce the power of your WLAN transmitter and thus reduce the signal range. Although it is usually impossible to fine-tune a signal so precisely that it does not leak outside your home or business, with some trial and error, you can often limit how far outside your premises the signal reaches, which reduces the possibility for foreigners to access your WLAN.
• Division of Wired Wireless:
Divide the party wired and wireless network segments with a firewall between the two. This can prevent an attacker to access a wired network by entering the wireless network
• Change the administrator password by default
This rule could also apply to your alarm system as your wireless access. Passwords by default for all access points leading suppliers are well known and are the first would be tried by hackers. Some providers of access points allow you to change also the name of the default administrator user.Change both if possible and by following safe computing practices do not set the password to something easy to guess such as company name, address, etc.
• Turn on encryption
Without the infrastructure or budget to implement a wireless solutions technology, we are left with Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security protocols. Both security protocols to encrypt your data so that only the destination of your data can be read. WPA is more secure of the two protocols and has been developed to address security issues with WEP.The downside of WPA is that all the old models of wireless network adapters support WPA. If you have a need to support older wireless network cards, use the highest level of WEP encryption (128 bit) encryption. WEP can be broken and that such use WEP if no safe alternative exists. WEP is better than nothing, but use WPA if you can.
