Wireless internet access (or the lack thereof locally) notwithstanding, wireless network connectivity is becoming more prevalent as the technology becomes more affordable for home users. In many cases, a wireless router is purchased when no wireless connection is currently required, but only as a future investment for the day wireless connection is needed.
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The Dangers of this Freedom
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Whilst being able to roam around your home with a laptop, or connect devices at a distance from your router without the need of running cables is a godsend, there are some pitfalls that it appears is frequently overlooked. Without securing your wireless connection, you leave it and yourself completely open to both malicious attack, and even others hijacking your internet connection for themselves.
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A Personal Experience of Home Wireless Installations
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I recently purchased a directional wireless antenna for my vacation overseas, this directional antenna provides greater wireless signal strength and reception in the direction it is pointed. When the device first arrived, I of course immediately set it up, and was ecstatic to see it was able to find half a dozen wireless signals I had previously been unable to see.
However there was a quite noticeable problem, of the six signals the antenna found, only two of them were secured, the other four were unsecured and wide open to anyone able to detect them and within range to connect to them.
What could be even worse is that most of these unsecured devices had the default wireless station ID’s broadcasting, a likely indication that default settings were not changed when the router was setup, which could well mean the default password have never been changed.
The likelihood is that no other security measures are taken or maintained which would leave any computer systems on these routers wide open to malicious attacks in search of things like banking information. Even without a malicious attacker, a wireless router without security is wide open to anyone wishing to use your internet connection, if your ISP charges a lot of money for excess downloads, then this security oversight could become very expensive, very quickly.
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Installations and Checks of Existing Wireless Networks are Available from Jason’s PC Services
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Of all the potential security risks, an unsecured wireless connection would have to be one of the worst. Securing your wireless network is critical, not doing so can leave your system open to compromise by attackers, and your internet access open to use by others, which could leave you with massive excess download fees.
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