Securing your Home Wireless Network
Introduction
Wardriving
Preventing Unauthorized Access
Change the Administrator Password
Change your SSID
Insure WEP is Turned On
Position the Wireless Access Point
Reduce WLAN Transmitter Power
Disable Remote Administration
Getting Help
Introduction
Home wireless networks are a convenient way to connect computers and printers together and share an Internet connection without all the messy wires. No longer confined to a desk, wireless users have the freedom to roam anywhere within range of the wireless router. However wireless connections rarely stop at the boundaries of your home. If you have not secured your wireless network, others may access it and use your Internet connection for file sharing, sending spam and viruses, or other illegal activities. Besides slowing down your network connection, you may also be exposed to security risks such as Identity Theft.
Wardriving
Wardriving refers to the activity where someone drives down streets searching for vulnerable wireless networks.
A wardriver could:
- Hijack your Internet connection.
- View files on your computer.
- Steal personal information stored on your network.
- Monitor your websites, email, file transfers or instant messages.
- Send spam or dangerous software.
- Perform other illegal activities from your Internet connection.
Preventing Unauthorized Access
Most wireless networks are completely unprotected when first set up. You can prevent unauthorized access by taking the following steps to make it more secure.
Change the Administrator Password
By default, the administrator password will either be extremely weak such as "password", the manufacturer's name or no password at all. Therefore when setting up a wireless connection, your first step should be to change this password to something stronger to prevent someone from reconfiguring your router. For help selecting a password, visit Creating Strong Passwords.
Change your SSID
The SSID (Service Set IDentifier) is the network's name that appears when searching for a wireless connection. Usually the router model is the default SSID. This makes guessing the SSID easy for hackers. Therefore it is important to change the SSID to a unique name. However avoid names that would indicate your real name or address.
Insure WEP is Turned On
Another way to protect your network is to use encryption. Encryption encodes the data sent over your network so that only computers that are allowed can use it. There are several choices for wireless encryption, however the most common is 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Protection) which is secure enough for most home wireless networks.
Position the Wireless Access Point
The range of wireless networks can often extend more than 300 feet in all directions from a wireless access point or router. Place the wireless access point or router near the centre of the your house to minimize access outside of your intended coverage area.
Reduce WLAN Transmitter Power
This is an optional function with some wireless routers and access points. It allows you to lower the power of the WLAN transmitter thus reducing the range of the signal outside of your desired boundaries.
Disable Remote Administration
Remote administration allows someone to change administrator preferences over an Internet connection instead of on the computer where the preferences were originally established. Having remote administration enabled may greatly increase the risk of a hacker gaining access to your wireless network. This feature should not be enabled.
Getting Help
For online help see your wireless router's website.
Microsoft also has help available at: