WiFi Opens Doors For Crooks, Identity Thieves

[RommelS]

A KIRO 7 Consumer Investigation exposes how the hottest thing happening in computers makes you vulnerable to crooks. Wireless technology is exploding in popularity. But as KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Consumer Investigator Wayne Havrelly discovered, high-tech criminals love it even more than you do.

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[Axim X3i]

They love it sooooo much because they are not going to get caught. The person that has the WiFi at their home or office will be the culprit. Hackers will be able to do what ever they want to do using mine your computers, which then the FBI or who ever can trace it back to us (the host) and we will be the ones in trouble when we know nothing about it. Good time for people to start installing P/W's on their networks,eh?

[edgett]

Without leaving my house, my Axim can see two unsecured access points. The one is that of my next door neighbor (I can tell by the name being broadcast by their router) and in some places of my house the signal of their router is actually stronger than from my own router.

Keep in mind this is not in a townhouse, where the router might be on the opposite side of the wall, but in a single family house with considerable distance between the houses.

Out of curiosities sake, I downloaded MiniStumbler (from netstumbler.com) and installed it, along with the Orinoco drivers for my Dell Truemobile 1180 card. During my morning commute my Axim was able to find six more unsecured networks. These were found with my Axim sitting on the console, and me driving about 40mph.

It just shows how easy it would be for someone with malicious intent to access most home users wireless networks.

[Axim X3i]

As I sit here in my father's office. I am connected to a Wells Fargo Bank wireless network.....hmm not very smart, if this is not protected I wonder what else would be so easily accessed with just a click of a button. Then Wells Fargo asks questions, such as how customers accounts and information had gotten accessed and lost.

[spraints]

Originally posted by Axim X3i@Feb 10 2004, 09:49 AM
They love it sooooo much because they are not going to get caught. The person that has the WiFi at their home or office will be the culprit. Hackers will be able to do what ever they want to do using mine your computers, which then the FBI or who ever can trace it back to us (the host) and we will be the ones in trouble when we know nothing about it. Good time for people to start installing P/W's on their networks,eh?

<<<Good time for people to start installing P/W's on their networks,eh?>>>

What is a P/W?

Thank you for the information. I wondered about the security of Wi-Fi and how it could be made more secure.

[Axim X3i]

p/w= password

There are several companies that offer software for WiFi networks to secure them. Having a secure WiFi network means to be password encrypted (You have to enter a password to connect to the Wireless Network)

[edgett]

Tonight I took a drive up my street, and found 21 access points broadcasting their SSID. Of those, only four were secured.

[Axim X3i]

WoW

[RommelS]

How to make it secure?

1. Don't broadcast SSID
2. Use WEP Encryption
3. Let devices with these MAC Address only access the network
4. Allow only with these Static IP access the network

Did I miss something else?

[edgett]

In addition:

• Change the default password for your router. A majority of home users use Linksys, Netgear, or DLINK equipment. As these products ship with a default password set, many users do not change it. This is almost as careless as having no password at all.
  
• Change the default SSID. While this shouldn't matter if you follow all the aforementioned steps, you can never be too secure. The default SSID usually will identify the manufacturer of your hardware which then alludes to what default passwords, settings are probably in use.
  
• If possible, use WiFi Protected Access (WPA) which is even more secure than WEP encryption. Unfortunately I do not believe this is possible on a PocketPC without the use of third-party software.
  
• Avoid positioning your access point near windows and outside walls. Instead attempt to position the access point in the center of your house. This should give you better coverage throughout your house, and lessen the amount of radio signals emitting outside your house.
  
• Use wired connections where possible. You lose out on mobility, but gain in security, reliability, and transfer speed.

Of course, as a general rule, you should secure important data on your computer, keep your OS patches and antivirus definitions up-to-date, and at least use the built in filtering / firewall features of your router.