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Sure you delete your cookies and wipe the Internet
History clean from time to time. You ask your computer not to remember passwords
too, but you're still a target in two possible ways that are as easy to fix as
not touching hot things and putting on a seat belt.
Briefly, wireless networks consist of three
things: The signals, the broadcaster and the receiver. Your Internet connection
is the signal. Your modem feeds into the router which acts as the broadcaster.
The network adapter in your computer is then the receiver. With those items, you
can surf the Internet without inhibitions; and with no passwords or hurdles for
novice hackers to stumble on, they can surf your computer without inhibition.
The open door, even for modest hackers, is that
broadcaster. It says, here I am! Your receiver is tuned in to it. Other
receivers can be tuned in to it from beyond your walls. Once on the same router,
they can query for other computers (that's YOU) on that router. Your defense is
simple but certainly not fool-proof for real professional cyber evil-doers. When
you set up your wireless network, 9 times out of 10, you're asked to create a
password so that users may sign on it's often called a WEP.
This is not a busy-task to waste your time. If
a casual user with an infected computer shares your router, your computer too
will share in the joy of infection with zero hacking required on the part of the
casual user. They were just looking for a free ride that you offered by NOT
creating that WEP. You don't need a hard word but definitely don't use an easy
word that creates the 'key'...
The computers in the router and in your lap
will most likely do the rest. This is a one-time procedure UNLESS your router is
reset. To reset the router is to force it to forget everything it knew. All your
Internet Settings and magic high speed Internet access numbers will have to be
re-entered. A router is reset internally or externally by pushing a button
generally on the back. It's labeled too.
Internal settings can be accessed by entering
the IP of the gateway which will soon be common knowledge. If you've not placed
a password there, anyone can change anything especially that computer-savvy
kid coming home from school who always messes your stuff up as a thank you for
room and board. Change the default password to avoid the thanks. And in extreme
cases, you can physically HIDE the router to keep that reset button from being
pushed thereby defeating all your modest counter measures!
The strongest reason to employ any simple
safety here is to eliminate neighborly free-rides from machines that may be
infected. Like buckling up, ten seconds setting a router with passwords can save
you a lot of grief.
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