www.wirelessfuture.org

Archive for January, 2012

Why Secure Your Wireless Internet?

Most of us have wireless internet. Some of us hook-up fancy wireless routers that flood the entire home and, in some cases, the surrounding area in wireless signal. As convenient as this may be when we do our work around the house it can also let unwanted intruders into your network as well. People with wireless access capabilities can scan for unprotected wireless networks and if yours isn’t secured you may as well be leaving the front door to your home unlocked.

Why? What’s the big deal? Amongst the very real pain of hijackers taking up your bandwidth and slowing down your network you have the possibility of identity theft and infiltration. Skilled hackers can find out everything they need to know about a person and all they need is a couple minutes and an unsecured connection. That’s why it’s important to secure your network and, luckily, most routers these days come with their own safeguards to prevent this. You still have to set up your passwords and console information but most of these products walk you through the process, which is simple enough.

Since you do most of your business and leisure activities on the computer (including facebook, banking, etc.) you need to be vigilant and careful what you’re doing. Wireless internet is one of the most convenient tools we have, you just need to take the necessary precautions.