How's your wireless connection? Is it secure?

I saw a segment on the news this AM, about a guy who had armed FBI agents at his door. They were about to accuse him of trafficking in kiddie p0rn. Turns out someone was stealing his internet signal, and they were the bad guys!

The bad guy wasn't even in the same building or on the same block, but he still managed to steal the signal.

I know most of you guys are pretty tech savy and have likely secured your connection, but check out those of your family members. You don't want to have to bail Mom or Dad out of jail.

 

You knew it was only a matter of time. I actually had to go through this with my father last year. He got a C&D letter from Cablevision because one of his neigbors was using WiFi to share copyrighted episodes of "Boardwalk Empire" and HBO tracked 'em down and threatened Cablevision. Fortunately he was able to play the ignorance card (since he wasn't actually doing it)and they went away. I locked down the router for him.

I told him he was just lucky that it wasn't something worse, like kiddy pr0n. They don't send you letters for that. Also, people who trade such filth online are MORE likely to take steps to cover their tracks, like using open WiFi or even hacking passwords. It gives them deniability. They'll drive around looking for open WiFi and just sit in their car for an hour to upload/download stuff. It's an old practice, called "wardriving." Google it if you'd like.

Also, for those not as technically inclined, if you are going to lock your wireless router yourself, use the WPA or WPA2 password standard... do NOT use WEP! WEP is old, outdated, and easily cracked in under a minute, even by folks with limited computer abilities.

5 minutes can give you peace of mind and keep the creeps away.

 

I used to work for the local cable modem provider. It was always fun when we got a call from the FBI. They would ask questions about how we're routing traffic because if it happens to go across state lines then it falls in their jurisdiction. Good times.

 

Our wireless is always secure (WPA2-Personal) with additional MAC filtering.

 

I have a wireless modem, but no separate router. Whatever the code is, is what my internet provider recommended. Do I need to get tech savy and change it? if it's WEP, I'll have to check.

 

yes it is however it really doesnt matter as there are those who steal wifi from their neighbors even if it's password protected

 

That's true, but most folks aren't that tech savy.

When my granddaughter got her netbook, she was piggybacking off the neighbor's connection until her uncle made the necessary changes to their router to give her access or whatever he had to do to get her online.

The neighbor's connection was just out there for the taking.

BTW, netbook is perfect for a nine year old if anyone has a kid that wants to be connected. She loves it!

 

Sounds like it's a router and modem in one. If you need a password to log into the WiFi signal, it's at least protected. I'd check to see if it's WEP or WPA. Most devices that use WiFi will tell you the protection that the router is using when you look at the list of available WiFi sources. For example it'll say "unsecured" or "Protected with WPA"

WEP is better than nothing, but if you're going to go into the router settings to change things, you should go with WPA2.

Nothing's totally secure, but for the effort of checking a box and typing a password, you'll probably never have an issue.

 

Besides securing your home be wary of open access points on the road. I showed a friend of mine demo of Firesheep while we were on the same non-passworded wireless network. With 3 clicks I was able to access her Facebook account... she was a little shocked

 

Thanks! I'll check it.