I just got my home network running, and noticed that 3 neighbors have not configured/secured their home network properly. How do I know? Wireless network cards scan for available networks and display their findings, and mine found 3 separate networks broadcasting to the world “Here I am! Come and steal my information and bandwidth!”.
Two of these networks have basic encryption (WEP) enabled, which means an extra few minutes of work for a cracker. The other is wide open and fancy free with no encryption or security at all. With absolutely no effort I could use their open network to surf the internet and possibly enter their computers if they have sharing enabled (which most people do).
I’m a nice guy, so I won’t exploit or even attempt to enter their networks. However a not so nice guy could easily take advantage of these access points to surf child porn or some other illegal activity, and the network owners wouldn’t know until the feds show up at 6AM to serve a search warrant.
I dug up a page that has a pretty good list of things you need to do to protect yourself. Find it here . It’s not a full list, but it’s a good start and will protect you much more than running your wireless network “out of the box” like my neighbors did.
Most people don’t realize that other people can see your wireless network too. Fortunately, my neighborhood isn’t that populated. My wireless laptop only finds one wireless access point…mine. I’ve opted NOT to do any WEP encryption, but instead, just use the MAC address filter included in with the router. I’ve only got 2 computers I’ve allowed to access…mine, and my brother’s SO. Anyone else may have a harder time getting access. I don’t live in a big city or even a small one, so the threat of computer hackers wanting to tap my connectin are next to nothing.
An old roommate of mine who works as network admin has used his home wireless connection to hack into several of his neighbor’s computers. He now goes in periodically and scans for virus, installs patches and update, performs maintenance and basically does the same things at home as at work. None of the neighbors know that he does it; it’s just his way of being neighborly in an anonymous, kind of anti-social way. But for general purposes I won’t count on having a friendly, reclusive, computer expert neighbor.
I’m in the same boat as you, A.C… Whenever I turn on my wireless in my apartment complex, I see 2 or 3 networks in the open waiting to be used. If I were a freeloader, I might consider cancelling my ISP and just run through one of them. If I were a criminal, I’d be cackling with glee at the prospect of comitting my cybercrimes without leaving a fingerprint – at least not one that could come back to me!
I don’t know if this is available with 802.11b, but some of the 802.11g routers and cards that are out there now come with a new type of protection called WPA (WiFi Protected Access) that’s adds anolther layer of security and supposed to make WEP a lot harder to crack. If anybody’s looking to go wireless or feels unsafe with WEP it’s worth looking into. You can go to just about any of the wireless hardware providers (Dlink, Netgear, Linksys, etc.) and check it out on their web pages for more info.
One thing that I had to find out by perusing some forums is that you have to run a microsoft wireless rollup patch for Windows XP if you want to get it to work:
Aaaaand another one for a Windows 2000 WPA setup - it’s a freeware solution from a company called Wireless Security Corporation and bear in mind it’s not supported by Microsoft.
As for Win9x, Linux and Mac OS, I haven’t a clue… Anybody else know anything? Do the individual companies who make the equipment provide drivers?
I have my wireless conection available to anyone who wants to use it, for a few reasons… There have been several times I have needed internet access for one reason or another when I was not home… I would drive around until I could see an access point, do what I needed to do… (get directions… or e-mail… etc) and drive away…
I leave my wireless named )(
that is wardriving code for an available access point.
I have one file shared named “wireless access READ ME” (that is all they can see)
The file basically says the rules of “war driving”… one of which is that it is illegal to look at other peoples files…
Obviously there are some risks such as people sending a virus… or downloading child porn… although the chances of that are incredibly slim… and the FBI is not going to bother going to a house with a WAP, and the computer that was doing something illegal only used the access point once… (identifiable by MAC address)