If you were jolted by the number of blasts that rocked the country
sometime back, a police team knocking at your doors soon after could be
even more shocking. With terror outfit Indian Mujahideen raising its
ugly head time and again, using its signature style of hacking a WiFi
connection to send out an e-mail claiming credit for a terror attack,
don't be surprised if you are the unfortunate one.
Terror outfits using hacked connections are becoming increasingly
rampant and there is an urgent need to secure your Internet connection.
Otherwise, be prepared for some uncomfortable questions and long
grilling sessions by the police should the terror email be traced to
your connection.
Why are is it important to secure your Wifi Connection?
With traditional wired networks, it is extremely difficult for someone
to steal your bandwidth but the big problem with wireless signals is
that others can access the Internet using your broadband connection
even while they are in a neighboring building or sitting in a car
that's parked outside your apartment.
This practice, also known as piggybacking, is bad for three reasons:
- It will increase your monthly Internet bill especially when you have to pay per byte of data transfer.
- It will decrease your Internet access speed since you are now sharing the same internet connection with other users.
- It can create a security hazard* as others may hack your computers
and access your personal files through your own wireless network.
Here's a guide on how to make your Wifi tamper proof and hack proof:
Step 1. Open your router settings page
First, you need to know how to access your wireless router’s settings.
Usually you can do this by typing in “192.168.1.1” into your web
browser, and then enter the correct user name and password for the
router. This is different for each router, so first check your router’s
user manual.
You can also use Google to find the manuals for most routers online in
case you lost the printed manual that came with your router purchase.
For your reference, here are direct links to the manufacturer's site of
some popular router brands -
Linksys,
Cisco,
Netgear,
Apple AirPort,
SMC,
D-Link,
Buffalo,
TP-LINK,
3Com,
Belkin.
Step 2. Create a unique password on your router
Once you have logged into your router, the first thing you should do
to secure your network is to change the default password* of the router
to something more secure.
This will prevent others from accessing the router and you can easily
maintain the security settings that you want. You can change the
password from the Administration settings on your router’s settings
page. The default values are generally admin / password.
-> What do the bad guys use -This is a
public database
of default usernames and passwords of wireless routers, modems,
switches and other networking equipment. For instance, anyone can easily
make out from the database that the factory-default settings for
Linksys equipment can be accessed by using admin for both username and
password fields.
Step 3. Change your Network’s SSID name
The SSID (or Wireless Network Name) of your Wireless Router is usually
pre-defined as "default" or is set as the brand name of the router
(e.g., linksys). Although this will not make your network inherently*
more secure, changing the SSID name of your network is a good idea as
it will make it more obvious for others to know which network they are
connecting to.
This setting is usually under the basic wireless settings in your
router’s settings page. Once this is set, you will always be sure that
you are connecting to the correct Wireless network even if there are
multiple wireless networks in your area. Don't use your name, home
address or other personal information in the SSID name.
-> What do the bad guys use -Wi-Fi scanning tools like
inSSIDer (Windows) and
Kismet
(Mac, Linux) are free and they will allow anyone to find all the
available Wireless Networks in an area even if the routers are not
broadcasting their SSID name.
Step 4. Enable Network Encryption
In order to prevent other computers in the area from using your internet connection, you need to encrypt your wireless signals.
There are several encryption methods for wireless settings, including
WEP,
WPA (WPA-Personal), and
WPA2
(Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2). WEP is basic encryption and
therefore least secure (i.e., it can be easily cracked*, but is
compatible with a wide range of devices including older hardware,
whereas WPA2 is the most secure but is only compatible with hardware
manufactured
since 2006.
To enable encryption on your Wireless network, open the wireless
security settings on your router’s configuration page. This will usually
let you select which security method you wish to choose; if you have
older devices, choose WEP, otherwise go with WPA2. Enter a passphrase to
access the network; make sure to set this to something that would be
difficult for others to guess, and consider using a combination of
letters, numbers, and special characters in the passphrase.
-> What do the bad guys use -
AirCrack and
coWPAtty
are some free tools that allow even non-hackers to crack the WEP / WPA
(PSK) keys using dictionary or brute force techniques. A
video on YouTube suggests that AirCrack may be easily used to break WiFi encryption using a jail-broken iPhone or an iPod Touch.
Step 5. Filter MAC addresses
Whether you have a laptop or a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone, all your wireless devices have a unique
MAC address
(this has nothing to do with an Apple Mac) just like every computer
connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. For an added layer of
protection, you can add the MAC addresses of all your devices to your
wireless router’s settings so that only the specified devices can
connect to your Wi-Fi network.
MAC addresses are hard-coded into your networking equipment, so one
address will only let that one device on the network. It is,
unfortunately,
possible to spoof a MAC address*, but an attacker
must first know one of the MAC addresses of the computers that are
connected to your Wireless network before he can attempt spoofing.
To enable MAC address filtering, first make a list of all your
hardware devices that you want to connect to your wireless network**.
Find their MAC addresses, and then add them to the MAC address filtering
in your router’s administrative settings. You can find the MAC address
for your computers by opening Command Prompt and typing in “ipconfig
/all”, which will show your MAC address beside the name “Physical
Address”. You can find the MAC addresses of Wireless mobile phones and
other portable devices under their network settings, though this will
vary for each device.
-> What do the bad guys use - Someone can change the
MAC address of his or her own computer and can easily connect to your
network since your network allows connection from devices that have
that particular MAC address. Anyone can determine the MAC address of
your device wireless using a sniffing tool like
Nmap and he can then change the MAC address of his own computer using another free tool like
MAC Shift.
Step 6. Reduce the Range of the Wireless Signal
If your wireless router has a high range but you are staying in a
small studio apartment, you can consider decreasing the signal range by
either changing the mode of your router to 802.11g (instead of 802.11n
or 802.11b) or use a different wireless channel.
You can also try placing the router under the bed, inside a shoe box or
wrap a foil around the router antennas so that you can somewhat restrict the direction of signals.
Apply the Anti-Wi-Fi Paint - Researchers
have developed
a special Wi-Fi blocking paint that can help you stop neighbors from
accessing your home network without you having to set up encryption at
the router level. The paint contains chemicals that blocks radio signals
by absorbing them. "By coating an entire room, Wi-Fi signals can't get
in and, crucially, can't get out."
Step 7. Upgrade your Router's firmware
You should check the manufacturer's site occasionally to make sure
that your router is running the latest firmware. You can find the
existing firmware version of your router using from the router's
dashboard at 192.168.*.
Connect to your Secure Wireless Network
To conclude, MAC Address filtering with WPA2 (AES) encryption (and a
really complex passphrase) is probably the best way to secure your
wireless network.
Once you have enabled the various security settings in your wireless
router, you need to add the new settings to your computers and other
wireless devices so that they all can connect to the Wi-Fi network. You
can select to have your computer automatically connect to this network,
so you won’t have to enter the SSID, passphrase and other information
every time you connect to the Internet.
Your wireless network will now be a lot more secure and intruders may have a tough time intercepting your Wi-Fi signals.
Who is Connected to your Wireless Network
If you are worried that an outsider may be connecting to the Internet using your Wireless network, try
AirSnare
- it's a free utility that will look for unexpected MAC addresses on
your Wireless network as well as to DHCP requests. Another option is
that you open your router's administration page (using the 192.168.*
address) and look for the DHCP Clients Table (it's under
Status >
Local Network on Linksys routers). Here you will see a list of all computers and wireless devices that are connected to your home network.
*It is also a good idea to turn off the router completely when you are
not planning to use the computer for a longer period (like when you
are out shopping). You save on electricity and the door remains 100%
shut for wireless piggybackers.
**If you ever want to let a new device connect to your network, you
will have to find its MAC address and add it to your router. If you
simple want to let a friend connect to your wireless network one time,
you can remove his MAC address from the router settings when he or she
leaves your place.
Thanks....
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Anu
