If you are new to computers or you have been in that world for quite a long time, you have to learn and know something about the security of your wireless network. You probably know that the network is protected by a password and maybe you have heard that some people hide their network names in order to protect their network from unwanted guests. Ok, you have set a password and hidden the network name, but don’t think that you are completely protected.
Hide Your Network Name
We can freely say that this is the worst kind of protection. Anyone with a cracking tool can see your network. Basically, the ones who can’t see the network name are the ones around you. However, a hacker can easily find the hidden network name and is already working on cracking your wireless password.
WEP Encryption
This type of encryption i.e. security is one of the oldest and the weakest. This type of security can be cracked in a minute. However, people still use this type of protection, and it would be good to check whether you are one of them.
WPA2 Encryption
You have probably heard before that WPA2 is considered to be the best protection ever. A quite long password consisted of letters, numbers and special characters can’t be cracked that easily. Unfortunately, you are not 100% safe.
There is a WPS option in some routers which was implemented as an easy way to connect to the network. You would have to enter some numbers or touch a button and you would be connected. However, at first, the manufacturers failed to see that a brute-force attack could crack the numerical password so they built-in an option to lock the router for some time after 3 failed attempts.
However, if the password was consisted of eight digits one by one it would take years to crack the password. However, the producers have split these numbers in 2 parts of four numbers. And the cracking tool reports back after someone has cracked the first four numbers. At the same time it’s quite easy to crack a four-digit password so now instead of spending more than six years to crack the password, it lasts less than 24 hours. It would be best if manufacturers implemented an option to lock out the hacker after several failed attempts.
Since WPS is enabled by default it means that the router you have can be cracked. So, what exactly can you do now?
- One good protection measure is disabling the WPS. You should check whether this option is switched on or off. Maybe it is better to keep this switched off.
- Unless you really need to use wireless internet then it is OK to have your wireless connection always on. However, if you don’t really need it for example when you are travelling away from home it is recommended to turn it off.
- Check the manufacturer’s website and look for a newer firmware version. If there is one, go for it and upgrade your router firmware.
How to Secure the Router
If you want to do something about your router security, you have to login to the router first.
This can be easily done with the default IP of the router, and the default login details. Most often the router IP will be 192.168.1.1. Since this IP has to be typed into the browser, you have to be careful and type it correctly, not like some users who type 192.168.l.l and then complain that they can’t login at all.
The default login details can be found in the manual or the official website. After you login, you will have access to all the router settings and options. Here you have to change the default IP, default username and password, SSID, wireless password, type of security, enable or disable Wi-Fi and so on.
Final Thoughts
If you are worried that your connection isn’t completely safe, you are right. It doesn’t really matter what network name you use or how long and complicated if someone decides to crack it, chances are that he or she will succeed.
The only way to be completely safe is to switch off the wireless internet connection completely, but that’s not something we would like? Right?
