DFW Computer Integration

Are You Safe in Your Own Home?

Maybe not.

In fact, Probably Not – if you installed your own wireless router, that is.  Or even if you had someone else install your wireless router, you could still be at risk.  Just today there was a news story of a man who was sitting in his 12th story apartment, minding his own business when a squad of armed FBI agents burst through the door, accusing him of distributing child pornography.  He was, fortunately, innocent.  His WiFi signal had been stolen by a man in a boat almost a quarter mile away, who was allegedly using this usurped signal to distribute his library of over a million child porn images. How could this happen? Easy. And to you. Every wireless router need to be protected for you to be safe.

• By default, many are not.
• Out of the box, they are not.
• If you don’t personally see to their security, they are not.

There are three levels of security you MUST address. First, the actual WiFi signal must be secured, requiring a Key to connect to the router.  And it needs to be a complex key.  There are numerous standards from WEP to WPA in several configurations.  WEP is incredibly easy to crack, but better than nothing.  WPA is much more secure.  If using a passphrase to create your Key, you want it to be as complicated as possible.  A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters with numbers is best.

• Never use a word from the dictionary.
• Never use your address
• Never use your name
• Never use your phone number.
• Never use your kids’ names
• Never use your pets’ names.
• Always use something complex that Your can remember but No One can guess.

Second, You MUST change the Admin login.  Preferably to something other than Admin – and again, with a very complex password. Third, You MUST change the SSID – the “name” your WiFi signal broadcasts so you can find it to connect to it.  The default will be Netgear (something), D-Link (something), Linksys (something) etc.  Anyone trying to find a “free” WiFi signal that knows what they’re doing will be able to hack a system with the default name if they simply Google the manual for the router & use the default Admin login – if you haven’t changed it.

We recommend ASUS routers.

Attend to these three areas immediately.  If you don’t know how, contact a highly qualified technician to implement them for you. Contact us for recommendations if you don’t know where to turn.