<p>I have the general sense that if I access the internet using WiFi, someone can intercept the transmissions. How worried about this should I be? H is thinking of converting our DSL internet access at home to a WiFi system but would that mean it would be a bad idea to access our bank or credit card accounts on the internet?</p>
<p>As long as your wi-fi network is encrypted you’ll be fine. But never type in sensitive passwords, e.g. bank, email etc., while using a public network.</p>
<p>Also, make sure the encryption protocol is not WEP as its not only shown to be insecure compared with WPA and WPA2, but you also take a slight bandwidth hit. If possible, try to max out the number of characters you use for your passwords…and make sure they don’t easily correspond to any dictionary words or popular string of numbers (i.e. Use all 63 characters for WPA passwords).</p>
<p>Incidentally, the only reason to stick with WEP is if your wireless equipment dates to before 2004 or before. Even my 2003 era Indigo IMAC using the original airport card is running WPA.</p>
<p>The new routers on sale today have WPA encryption. Every new machine that tries to to on your network has to type in an access code or a connection cannot be made.</p>
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<p>Even so, I’m still amazed at the numerous folks who still use WEP or worse…leave their routers on the default unsecured setting. </p>
<p>Moreover, I know for a fact that some broadband ISPs which provide integrated wireless routers with their cable/DSL modems with their setup technicians still using WEP as their default setup.</p>
<p>Make sure the wireless traffic is encrypted and that use of the network is password protected with a hard to guess password.</p>
<p>Make sure that any sensitive traffic that is passed over the wireless (e.g. web browsing to your bank account) is encrypted by its own means (e.g. https: , not http: , for web browsing).</p>
<p>Redneck WiFi security: a wireless router installed in your house in the middle of your 20-acre property (which accessible by a one-lane gravel road) needs no password. We do have neighbors like that. :)</p>
<p>On a more serious note: do not use your family name or any other personal identifier as your network ID. When visitors come to our house, they always laugh at our network ID and then grind their teeth when they have to type in a looong password that looks like a random bunch of numbers and letters generated by a cat who strolled across the keyboard.</p>
<p>There’s an additional new security risk with WiFi that people need to be aware of. It is a requirement of any branded WiFi device that it support WiFi Protected Setup (WPS), which is supposed to be an easy way to set up a secure WiFi network. It has recently been discovered that WPS suffers from a fundamental security flaw that is easily exploitable. Even devices that follow the spec exactly are susceptible to this flaw. You can read about the it here: [Wi-Fi</a> Protected Setup is Busted | ZDNet](<a href=“http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/wi-fi-protected-setup-is-busted/1808]Wi-Fi”>Wi-Fi Protected Setup is Busted | ZDNET)</p>
<p>There is no standard set of instructions I can give that will work for all routers, but if you google “[name of your router] disable WPS” you can hopefully find out how to turn the “feature” off. WPS cannot be disabled on every model. Since this is such a new problem, most manufacturers have not yet released fixes. And even when they do, this will require you to actively update your router’s firmware. An upside to this is that the tools that do the hacking aren’t very easy to use yet, but it’s only a matter of time until simple programs are widely available.</p>
<p>Another thing I do even at home with an encrypted wifi connection (actually I do it anywhere). As soon as I access an account on-line, I close my browser which is set to delete all history/passwords/etc upon closing. If I need to access 3 accounts, I do this each time. I also change my passwords frequently. Between home and work, I now have an Excel file ( with an obscure name) that’s password protected.</p>
<p>Most of our home equipment is wired but we do have wireless available for those that want to use it. Pairing a new device requires physical access to the router. One could also use a remote VPN as an additional layer of encryption.</p>
<p>You should have a firewall to prevent hackers from accessing your computer network.
[Securing</a> Your Internet Connection](<a href=“http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/network/athome/homesecurity.html]Securing”>http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/network/athome/homesecurity.html)</p>
<p>They can hack into my network all they want. All computers are password protected, connected via wired network runs, and the network attached storage (NAS) server is similarly password protected. No shared drives, guest accounts, etc. There’s wireless access for cellphones and the like but they can’t get into the router, NAS control panel, etc.</p>
<p>…omg. Geezers</p>