Security Awareness Blog

Wireless Security: How to Disable SSID Broadcast

Yash — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:12:35 +0000

Note: This post is part of our series on “How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network“. The series contains a 10 step guide to securing your home wireless network. The wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where wireless clients may roam in and out of range. For the home user, this roaming feature is unnecessary, and it increases the likelihood [...]

Wireless Security: How to Enable MAC Address Filtering

Yash — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:01:59 +0000

Note: This post is part of our series on “How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network“. The series contains a 10 step guide to securing your home wireless network. Each wireless device possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses for all devices that connect to them. Wireless routers offer the option to key in the MAC addresses of your home equipment so as to restrict the [...]

Wireless Security: How to Change the Default SSID

Yash — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:58:28 +0000

Note: This post is part of our series on “How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network“. The series contains a 10 step guide to securing your home wireless network. Access points and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set for all routers. For example, the SSID for Netgear devices is normally “NETGEAR”. The Default SSID can be changed from the administrative panel and should be set to something [...]

How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network

Yash — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:50:32 +0000

As most of us in India have noticed, Wireless Networks have been in the news these days for all the wrong reasons. These open networks have always been used by tech-savvy users however lately they have been utilized by malicious organizations to carry out their nefarious purposes (e.g. the recent bomb blasts). The home user, small businesses that often cannot implement complex security solutions are the ones who primarily suffer the consequences which range from large broadband bills to authorities [...]

Wireless Security: How to Enable WEP/WPA Encryption

Yash — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:50:09 +0000

Note: This post is part of our series on “How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network“. The series contains a 10 step guide to securing your home wireless network. All Wireless devices support some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over the air and ensures that they cannot be intercepted by hackers. Several encryption technologies exist for Wireless communication today. WPA is the strongest commonly available encryption technology for home devices however WEP can also be used. Although [...]

Wireless Security: How to Change Default Administrator Usernames and Passwords

Yash — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:07:09 +0000

Note: This post is part of our series on “How to Secure Your Home Wireless Network“. The series contains a 10 step guide to securing your home wireless network. Most routers or access points come enabled with a default set of username/password combinations. These combinations are well documented and available online for hackers to use. If a hacker can access your device’s administrative pages they can modify the configuration and control all aspects of your device. These username/password combinations can [...]