Securing the Network: 6

Securing The Network
A Post on Corporate Security Issues for the Non Technical

This post covers:
                Wireless Networks

Wireless Networks
Wireless networks are a major potential security breach. The following are some ideas on what you can do to minimize your exposure.

Change Your SSID
A SSID is the public name of your wireless network. SSID stands for Service Set IDentifier. Many people leave this set to the factory default, which may be LINKSYS or 3COM or similar. Change the SSID to something that describes your own network, this will at least ensure that people do not accidentally connect to your network instead of their own.

TECH NOTE: AP (Access Point): This is transmitter / receiver which connects your wireless network to you LAN (Local Area Network).

Turn off the Access Point Beacon
When you have setup your wireless network there is no further need for your AP to transmit it’s beacon that basically says ‘I AM LINKSYS. I AM HERE’. So within the administration software or webpage that you use to administer your AP, turn off the beacon. This will make your wireless network invisible to somebody who is just scouting around. If they know you have a network already or if they know the SSID they can still see and/or connect to you.

Restrict Access to specific MAC Addresses
Each network card within a computer contains a Mac Address that is (to all intents and purposes) unique. With some AP’s you can restrict access to your wireless network to computers of a known MAC Address. The procedures differ for each AP and some do not even support this, but if your AP does support this it is worth pursuing. This assumes that you do not regularly have new computers needing to connect to your network. Also be aware that valid MAC Addresses can be sniffed from your network and the attacker can spoof his MAC Address so that it looks like yours ...

TECH NOTE: MAC (Media Access Control) Address: This is a unique identifier attached to most sorts of networking equipment and consists of two parts, the first part related to the manufacturer of the device and the second part is a serial number.

Change the Admin Password on your Access Point
This one goes without saying.

Implement Encryption
At a minimum, enable WEP. However if possible WPA should be setup and used. Use the maximum encryption length.

TECH NOTE: WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
TECH NOTE: WPA (WI-FI Protected Access)

"Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character." - Ralph Waldo Emerson