Nowadays wireless networking has become very popular. The extensive utilization of wireless networks has also given way to numerous possible hackers or even network intruders inside the range of your office or house WLAN.  Securing your wireless network from intruders is very important. For securing your wireless network, all you have to do is to take some simple steps to configure the security features of your access point or wireless router. Below are a few tips for securing your wireless network:


Secure the administration interface of your access point or wireless router
The first thing you should do while setting up a WLAN access point or router is to modify its default password and save it somewhere in writing in case you forget it.

Disable the broadcast of your SSID
Though the SSID is very handy for the wireless customers as they can find a WLAN even if they don’t know what its name is. However, it makes the WLAN detectable for all wireless systems inside its range. By disabling the broadcast of your SSID, you can make it hidden for the passersby and neighbors.

Enable WPA encryption in place of WEP
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is better in safeguarding your WLAN as compared to WEP. It is supported by Windows XP and nearly every contemporary wireless operating system as well as hardware. WPA2, the newer edition, is also available. It has stronger encryption than WPA.

Keep in mind that WEP is better than not having any encryption at all
Do not leave out encryption completely as WEP is much better than having no encryption altogether. WEP user ought to alter encryption keys as frequently such as each week. 

Use MAC filtering for access control
MAC addresses are exclusive to particular network adapters. Turn on MAC filtering in order to limit network access to just your own systems. Although it MAC address is not a warranty of safety, it is an addition to the hurdles for a probable intruder. 

Reduce your WLAN transmitter power
Although the feature cannot be found on all access points and wireless routers, a few let the user decrease the power of the WLAN transmitter. This reduces the range of its signal which minimizes the chance for intruders to gain access of the WLAN.

Disable remote administration
Unless someone extremely requires the facility of remote administration, it is better to keep it disabled. (It’s typically switched off by default; however you should make sure that it is.)

Proxy server is a server which acts as a proxy -  ie. which forwards requests and responses between two host machines thereby acting as an interface between the two and securing certain information and protecting the privacy of the end users. Here, we provide a comprehensive list of proxy servers which can be used for website unfilter and bypass.

A proxy server is usually a web server that sits between a client and a server. It acts as an mediator for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. In a client-server model, a client connects directly to the server. However, in this case, a client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resources which are available from the target server. The proxy server processes the incoming request as per its filtering rules. e.g., it may allow or block requests based on the IP address or protocol of the request. If the packet or request is processed by the filter, the proxy feeds the resource to the target server and thereby requesting the service on behalf of the client.

A proxy server may also modify the incoming request or the server's response, and at times, it may serve the request from its cache without contacting the target server. It 'caches' responses from the target server, stores it locally, and whenever required, returns the cached response for all subsequent requests. There are different types of proxy servers and the most common ones are the web proxies. These proxies are those which allow access to content on the World Wide Web.

Uses of a proxy server
Proxy servers are widely used in various areas. Given below are some of the major applications of a proxy server:

For security reasons and to keep internal machines encapsulated and anonymous.
As an accelerator - faster access to resources (using caching).
To log, audit, monitor and control and implement access policy to a network. e.g. blocking of sites.
Web proxies through which prohibited/filtered sites can be accessed
To bypass security / parental controls.
To scan transmitted content for malware before delivery.
Reverse proxies where outbound content can be scanned, e.g., for data leak protection.
To allow a web site to make web requests to externally hosted resources (e.g. images, music files, etc.) when cross-domain restrictions prohibit the web site from linking directly to the outside domains.