1. Chapter 7 Securing your Wireless Network (WIFI)

2. Synopsis What is a wireless home network? What damage can a wireless network snoop do? Who are the snoopers? How do they get in? First line of defense: secure the WI-FI network. Detecting a visit from a wireless snoop. What to do if you detect a snoop Wireless snoop defenses.

3. What is a wireless home network? A network is a way to connect computers and other devices together so they can share files, access to the internet and printers and other stuff. Wireless and home require little explanation. Wired IS faster, but wireless is more convenient. It also has its headaches; that is what this chapter is about.

4. WI-FI technologies: 802.11b The oldest: 11 Mbps, (really 2-4 Mbps) 2.4 GHz frequency: (cordless phones, baby monitors garage door openers, microwaves). 802.11a 54 Mbps (20-30 Mbps), 5GHz 802.11g 54 Mbps, 2.4 GHz, 35 Meters ~ 115 feet range 802.11n 135 Mbps 2.4 and 5 Ghz 70 Meters range

5. What damage can a wireless network snoop do? They are not malicious, most of the time. However, they can (and some will): – Use your internet connection to download illegal material. – Use your internet connection to hack and maybe steal data. – Use your network to send SPAM – Install malware in your computer(s) – Steal information from your computer(s) – Gain access to your office computer through your home computer. – They might sabotage your network

6. Who are the snoopers? Wardrivers: there are actually war-driving maps Bandwidth Bandits Wireless Hackers

7. Some tricky WI-FI spots WI-Phishing: WI-FI spots, (free) set up by bad guys who watch the traffic and harvest all the information they can use later for their purposes. Dead-End WI-FI access points: free access points which don't seem to work; your computer gets turned into an access point. Instructions for changing this are on page 195. For Windows 7, use the procedure for Vista.

8. How do they get in? Most routers are unsecured – No encryption – Router administrator is unprotected. Some routers do come with protections: AT&T for example. They are the exception.

9. First line of defense: secure the WI-FI network. Access your router (through a wire!!) Login (most login information is in the manual or on page 200) Change the password!! Change the SSID (Service Set ID) Enable WI-FI security: (see page 205) – Choose WEP, WPA or WPA2 You may want to turn on MAC address filtering. (pp 209-211)

10. How to find your wireless SNOOP There is a page giving the computers logged into the router..

11. What to do if you detect a snoop Turn off wireless access Activate/change the security settings Assess the damage

12. Wireless snoop defenses. Change the Router Password Change the default SSID Turn on the Windows Firewall Turn UpnP on the Router Turn off your router (or at least the wireless) when not in use. In Windows be careful with file sharing, network discovery, media sharing.