Learn from Jennifer and Protect Your WiFi and Yourself

March 2, 2010 - By Erin Stuelke

March 2, 2010 – Recently, a woman named Jennifer called into Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy radio show complaining that her wireless access point she’d been using for over a year had been missing for the last three weeks. Laporte tried gently to explain to her that she’d basically been stealing the access from a neighbor, but Jennifer didn’t seem to understand why this was a problem. After all, she says, “It was a Linksys in my neighborhood.” Laporte then explained to her how exposed her information can be and how dangerous that is, recommending she change all her unencrypted passwords as soon as possible.

How can the rest of us internet users learn from Jennifer? Well, there are several ways you can protect yourself as both a user of WiFi and an owner of WiFi.

Never use an unsecure wireless connection.

How do you know a connection is unsecure? If you see the word “Unsecured” next to the name or if you try to connect to it from your computer and no password is required, then it’s unsecure. By connecting to one of these networks, any information that sent or received over that connection can be akin to printing up a poster with all those passwords you just typed and pasting it on your front door for all the neighbors to see. Granted, most people probably don’t know how to access that information, but always play it safe and assume the person behind that connection knows just how to grab that data.

Using someone else’s connection can also be considered unethical as it is a form of stealing. The owner of the connection has a certain amount of bandwith allowed by their ISP and using their connection can cause their internet activities to slow down or, in some cases, increase their ISP bill if they have a cap set on the amount of bandwith they are alloted. In several states, such as Illinois, a person can be fined for “theft of services” if they’re caught using a connection that’s not their own.

Ensure your data is encrypted.

If for some reason you have to use an unsecure network, make sure the sites you visit and any data you send or receive are encrypted. How can you tell if a site is safe to surf? Simple! If the web address starts with “https”, notice the “s”. That means any information you type on that page will be sent over the internet in a nice little encrypted package. Also, some browsers display a lock icon somewhere on the browser’s interface (such as somewhere on the bottom bar or in the URL address box). If the lock icon is only on the webpage itself (and there’s no “s” after “http”), avoid that site on an unsecure network, especially if you have to type in any sensitive information. Be sure and look for these indicators before you start typing that password or entering in your credit card information.

Also be careful while using instant messaging programs on an unsecure network. Most IM programs don’t automatically encrypt the messages you send and receive and some don’t even come with the tools to do so. If you’re unsure about your particular program, check the help files or the developer’s website. If you’re still unsure or don’t want to do that, you can always download Pidgin (for Windows and Linux) or Adium (for Mac OS). Both are universal chat programs, meaning you can incorporate all your different IM accounts into one spot. And both have plugins for encrypting your chats called “Off-the-record Messaging“. If you decide to use one of these, be sure to install and activate the plugin.

Secure your own network.

Securing your own network not only prevents others from using up your precious bandwith, but it also protects your own network. If your WiFi connection is available for everyone to use, all of your computers on your network are also available to outsiders. Depending on how your sharing is set up on your computer, a person might have access to a lot of personal information you don’t want divulged. You could tighten up security on each of your computers or you could just take a few minutes to secure your connection instead. PC World has a detailed article explaining the best way to protect your connection. Your router’s manual will also have detailed instructions on how to access your network settings and how to set everything up securely. If all of it seems confusing, just remember to at least change the name of your network from the default name, change the default administrator password (the one that allows you access to your router settings) and set up network password that’s easy for you to remember but would be hard for someone else to guess. I suggest a short phrase that’s meaningful to you.

Good luck and safe surfing! If you found this article useful, you may also be interested in A Ten Step Guide (for Regular People) to Securing Your Home Wireless Network or Don’t Let Your Password Choices Set You up for Disaster

Erin “The Nins” Stuelke is a geeky gamer girl with a BS in Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill and a computer programming certificate from NC State. She spends most of her free time playing RPGs and adventure games, studying Japanese, and absorbing as much information as she can about science and technology. You can follow her on twitter via @The_Nins.