Friday, January 17, 2014

Tips for Protecting Your Business’ Wireless Network

Keeping your business’ wireless network secure is of utmost importance, especially when considering all the recent hacks shown in the news. To protect your business, PC World has compiled a list of eight tips you should follow to keep your business’ wireless network secure.
1.      Change the default password: When you set up your router, immediately change the default password to the personalized password of your choice. Many default passwords can be searched and located on the internet, so it is important to have a personalized password on wireless network.
2.      Use only WPA2 encryption: WPA2 encryption prevents neighbors or computer hackers from hacking into your system and spying on your online activities. All new Wi-Fi routers support WPA2 encryption, and wireless devices and Wi-Fi adapter cards made in recent years do as well.
3.      Use a complex passphrase: PC World recommends using a passphrase of at least 25 characters including a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols to make your passphrase difficult to guess.
4.      Avoid common SSID names: SSID stands for Service Set Identifier, which is the name of your wireless local area network. Do not use the default SSID, or common names, such as these.
5.      Disable WPS: Wi-Fi Protected Setup was created as a way for users to add new devices to their network, but if a hacker guessed your pin code, they would be able to make changes to your Wi-Fi hardware.
6.      Set up a guest network: When friends or family need to connect to your Wi-Fi, set up a separate wireless network under a second SSID. Many wireless routers allow this option, and it is an easy way to ensure that your passphrase stays secure. Once you no longer need the guest network, you can disable it.
7.      Forget MAC addresses filtering: The Media Access Control (MAC) address is an identifier hardcoded to Ethernet ports and Wi-Fi devices. Unless you are computer programmer, it is not advised to use MAC address filtering due to the hassle that could result from a misconfiguration (manually adding all devices to your network).
8.      Disallow admin access from wireless network: If a hacker was to log in to your wireless network, disallowing administrative access would stop them from being able to make changes to the configuration of your Wi-Fi router.
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