WIRELESS IS “TROUBLE-LESS"!

As wireless technology proliferates, more and more people are harnessing the conveniences of wireless technology. Wireless router for domestic use is easy to set-up and it connects all the members in your household to the internet.
The catch is of course when you realize that your surfing speeds start to deteriorate and the download speed of your movies slows down. These are some of the signs that indicate the possibility of strangers “piggy-backing” to the Wi-Fi connection that you have set-up.

Strangers tapping onto your network may be tolerated by most since it doesn’t adversely affect your internet experience as long as you are not a heavy user. However, Singapore telecoms have a clause included when you sign the contract that your internet connection must not be shared. So far, they have not taken any action against domestic users who share their internet connection with the entire neighborhood (this is mere exaggeration). Such a breach of contract may result in termination of contract and compensation if they deem necessary. To avoid putting yourself in such a situation, it is wise to secure your wireless connection!

Here are some tips to stop these cheapskate strangers from stealing your Wi-Fi connection.

1) Using a password to prevent hackers from accessing your wireless access point/ router
To access your router’s homepage - the default address is 192.168.1.1 for most of the routers. Once you key this into the Address Bar, it would bring you to the router’s login page. The default user id is “admin” or “administrator” and the default password field is usually left blank.
Choose a strong password that has to be used to access your wireless access point. A general rule for a strong password is to include the use of symbols such as “ ! , $, @” , numerics and CAPITAL letters. An example of a good password that is easy to remember yet relatively difficult to crack : mon@kEy!
Don't use the default password that comes with your Wi-Fi equipment or a dictionary word that is easy to guess or crack.

2) Using encryption to secure your wireless connection
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) is a much stronger encryption system than WEP. Therefore this can be used to reduce the chances of hackers intercepting your communications. This can be accessed in the router webpage. (See above para on how to get access into the router webpage).
Any wireless device that attempts to connect to your network would need to authenticate itself with this code.

3) Using MAC address filtering
Wi-Fi routers and access points normally have the ability to prevent unknown wireless devices from connecting. This works by comparing the MAC address (This is an unique code of the wired/wireless device) of the device trying to connect with a list held by the router. However, this feature is turned off when the router is shipped because it requires some effort to set up properly. By activating this feature and only telling the router the MAC address of wireless devices in your household you can reduce the chances of strangers' computers piggybacking your internet connection. However it is still possible for a seasoned hacker to clone your MAC address, but this measure should still be taken to reduce the risks.

To determine the MAC address of your labtop
a) Go to “Start”
b) Click on “Run” and type “cmd”
c) A pop-up window would appear. Type “ ipconfig /all”
d) A long list of information would appear. Look out for the “Physical Address” of your wireless device under the “Wireless LAN Adaptor Wireless Network Connection”. It should look something like this “ XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX”. This is the MAC address.

Go back to the router homepage and activate the access list control. Add your wireless device’s MAC address onto the list. (The sequential steps vary from one brand of router to another).

4) Don't broadcast the name of your wireless network
The name of your wireless network, known as the SSID, should not be broadcast to strangers. In addition, choose an obscure hard-to-guess SSID name to make life much more difficult for hackers. Change the default SSID to something more complicated and hard-to-guess.

5) Restrict internet access to certain hours
Some wireless routers allow you to configure internet access to certain times of the day. For instance, if you know you will not need to access the internet from home between 9-5, Monday to Friday, and then schedule your router to disable access between those hours.

6)Securing your own PCs
Ensure that your own PCs are equipped and installed with antivirus, spybot- scanners and firewalls. Get them free from www.grisoft.com (anti-virus), www.safer-networking.org (spybot scanner) and www.zonealarm.com (firewall).

Remember that “a moment of vigilance, a lifetime of assurance”. Just spend an hour also figuring this out and you would be secured!



Completed by
Toh Jun Yong
25 Nov 2007