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With wireless networks proliferating it is becoming more important than ever
that sufficient security measures are put in place. And yet many people, especially
those new to the technology or computers in general, are just not aware of the
dangers of not properly securing a wireless network.
Typically ‘normal’ users of products such as wireless routers dismiss
any security concerns as only really being applicable to commercial concerns.
After all, who would be interested in a small local set-up of two, maybe three
computers? You may be surprised. There are many horror stories circulating about
unsecured wireless networks, and unfortunately there is a grain of truth in
most of them.
The most common form that a danger to a private network can take is known as
variously as ‘War-driving’, ‘war-walking’, ‘war-flying’
or ‘war-chalking.’ This involves an unscrupulous person literally
driving, walking or even flying around in an attempt to find an unsecured wireless
network. Once one is found a nearby wall is commonly ‘chalked’, indicating
to any other passer-by the presence of a ripe target. The name itself is taken
from the act of ‘war-dialling’, a term coined by the film ‘WarGames’,
where random telephone numbers were dialled in the hope of finding a computer
on the other end of the line.
If a network is found, then the potentialconsequences can range from the fairly
innocuous to the criminal. At the very lowest level a third-party can connect
to the network and access the Internet connection from the router. If the legitimate
owner of the network is on a capped service this can consume a considerable
chunk of their bandwidth, leading to extra charges being levied for resources
which they never realised were being used. Of far more consequence are some
of the uses to which this stolen bandwidth could be put. In a worst case example
a paedophile cruising around the area could spot the chalk marking and connect
to the compromised network. Without the knowledge of the network owners they
could connect to any manner of illegal sites, with no record of their passing
traceable to them. Because the trail would stop cold at the door of the person
who has provided them with the free access.
Of course this is a very worst-case example, and as such very unlikely. Even
in today’s climate of moral decrepitude this sort of occurrence would,
we hope, be extraordinarily rare. But hopefully it will help drive home the
point that securing your network should be taken very seriously indeed. But
what can you do to protect yourself?
I would recommend that all wireless networks should make use of the WEP (Wired
Equivalent Privacy) encryption option which comes as standard with almost all
routers and base stations. Although turned off by default this feature is absolutely
essential. Utilising either 64-bit encryption, which creates a 64bit encryption
based on a 40-bit key with a 24-bit initialisation vector, or 128-bit encryption
which makes use of a 104-bit key with a 24-bit initialisation vector, a secure
password is created. This password should only be given to known and trusted
wireless devices, blocking access to any interloper. This, although not secure
against dedicated crackers, provides a more than adequate protection to dissuade
the nosy or the vast majority of war-drivers.
Too few people enable this basic protection, or are even aware it exists. However
in some regards protecting your network can be as essential as your childhood
inoculation against tetanus. So please, take just a few minutes of your time
to configure your WEP encryption, and to help protect yourself.
For a more in-depth technical overview of the points covered in this article
you can visit http://www.iss.net/wireless/WLAN_FAQ.php, a very useful, if slightly
esoteric, overview of various security concerns over the standard 802.11 wireless
specification.
About the Author:
Daniel Robson runs www.shock-therapy.co.nr where among other things he hands
out his freeware, other peoples freeware, and his views on a myriad of different
topics. |
