these days almost everyone has a Wireless network (WLAN) either at home or at work. it is very nice to deal with WLAN as you are not have to set in specific place just to use the wire connecting you with your router.
the main issue with WLAN is any Wireless-enabled devise can connect to it not only your laptop or mobile devises. specially if your WLAN signal is accessible outside the boundary of your building. which means anybody can set outside and monitor your network traffic or even access internet using your WLAN. this is really scary !!
When I setup my WLAN network at home for the first time, I thought it is secured just because I have to provide passphrase (password) before I can access my network. after doing some researches I could find my network is not secured at all and I like transferring my data in front of everybody who can catch my network signal. I was accessing my bank accounts, providing my personal information, transferring files between different machines. this meant if anybody could successfully breakdown into my network, then I am officially dead!
so after I discover the fact that is my network is not secure, the first question I have what can I do to secure my network?. I can not go back to the Wired LANs. I could list 4 easy actions that you can do to make your network more secure:
1. make sure you are NOT using WEP Encryption:
WEP is stands for “Wired Equivalent Privacy” and this kind of encryption can be hacked within 30 Seconds, regardless of how complex your passphrase (Password) is. to solve this issue, switch and start using WPA2 encryption. it is much more secure than WEP and harder to be hacked.
2. Place your Wireless router in middle of your house or building:
This will minimize signal’s strength so that the WLAN signal will not be very strong outside the building boundaries.
3. ALWAYS use Firewall at your WLAN router:
Firewall will prevent intruder from accessing your Router administration site. Thus make the hacking possibility very low
4. Change the default SSID:
usually the default SSID indicate the brand name of your Router. this kind of info should not be publicly broadcast. thus just change it to something else. letting the hacker knowing the brand name of your WLAN router, make their hacking much easier.
I hope you will find these easy steps useful and this will make your network much securer than if you did not implement them.