Wireless Network Security and Cell Phones

Many of the mobile phones that are marketed today have the feature of browsing the web or using the email facility. Blue tooth is a technology to enable wireless connectivity of mobile devices or laptops to a Wi-Fi hotspot from which internet access is possible. Smart phones and PDA/s suffer the same fate as that of systems connected to the internet. Increasing amount of malware is now targeting mobile devices. These infected devices create new risks to the network they connect to.

How good is the security of your wireless network?

Wireless network security has been more advanced that wired network security. This is primarily due to the vulnerabilities that war driving exposed. Now most wireless devices come with the advanced security features. The features are

• WEP – Wireless Encryption Privacy
• WPA- Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2)
• MAC address Filetering by Routers and Access Points to deny access to unwanted clients.

These too have a few basic problems. The WPA2 does not work with older network cards. If you know that most of the network is protected and you could uses a number of tools to find out about the problems that exist. Vulnerability assessment and intrusion detection device can help you fix the problems that exist in your wireless network. Most of the problem lies in identifying the rogue devices in the vicinity of your network. The major tools try to penetrate the network and find vulnerabilities in the network. Tools that grab information from wireless devices are

• Kismet
• Airsnort
• Network Stumbler
• Aerosol

Securing your Wireless Network

The major aspect of securing the wireless network is for everyone to take responsibility for their laptops and wireless devices. Some tips that you could use are

• Change the default administrator password and user names.
• Enable WPA and WEP encryption
• Change the default SSID of your device and disable broadcast
• Enable Mac Address Filtering
• Disable remoter administration, use static IP address and turn off the DHCP on the router or Access Point.
• Position the router or Access Point such that the minimum radiation goes out of the perimeter security. Lower the WLAN transmitter power if possible.
• Turn of Network when not in use.
• Periodically monitor your network with intrusion detection system to find out rouge access points.
• Test your own Access Point with the various hacking tools to find out if the wireless network can be compromised.
• WEP/ WPA is a strong and your wireless device cannot be compromised if the encryption key is changed every 20 minutes. Some devices have this capability.

Wireless security has been given more importance than wired security because of the nature of communication. Encryption and authentication methods for the wired internet connections have been adopted from wireless security. Whatever be the security it seems that hackers always are able to beat the good guys. Being on your guard is the best means for better security.

Related Articles

Essentials of a Network: Network Security
How is the Security of your Network Compromised?
How Secure is your Windows Network?
Network Security and Linux: Is it really better?
Is your Home Network Safe From Viruses and Hackers?

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