While there are still a very large amount of unsecured wireless hotspots around, some have decided to play it safe and establish some security measures. Both businesses and personal users have decided to do various things such as disable their SSID broadcast as well as enable encryption. Unfortunately, sometimes precautions like these aren’t enough. Things like using robust passwords as well as MAC address filtering and occasionally changing your encryption keys should also be implemented. Granted, security features like MAC address filtering, SSID broadcast hiding and WEP encryption are easily broken and bypassed by any quasi-saavy hacker, but nonetheless, the more security you have, the more of a deterrent it has on people trying to break in.

College students do it. Coffee shop customers do it too. Your neighbor in Apartment 3C is probably doing it right now.

Many computer users search for an available wireless network to tap into — whether at the mall, at school or at home — and whether they have permission to use that network or not. Knowingly or unknowingly, these wireless “parasites” may be doing more than filching a signal. When they connect, they can open up the network — and all the computers on it — to an array of security breaches.

These problems are compounded when someone allowed to use an organization’s wireless network adds an unauthorized wireless signal to increase the main network’s signal strength. These unauthorized access points are especially vulnerable, often unprotected by any security measures that may exist on the main network.[more]

Tags: Wireless Security