Firewalls work with wireless connection?

me ^ | 10-26-06

[LouAvul]

My niece has a laptop with a wireless modem (or something like that). She does not have the internet.

So she rides around in her car until she finds a house with a wireless modem/internet connection. Then she logs on through their connection.

I have a wireless network. I also have firewalls. Can people hack into my system through my wireless connection?

[EarthBound]

Is your wireless connection secure? Ie: 128 bit WEP encrypted?

[EarthBound]

Also, what your neice is doing is known as "war driving" and is illegal, as she's stealing other people's connections.

[MikefromOhio]

Do you have WEP enabled?

[Terpfen]

Your niece is engaged in an illegal activity.

Firewalls will work with wireless connections, but with wireless, you have to actually secure the signal. Enable WPA, or preferably WPA2.

[kevkrom]

I have a wireless network. I also have firewalls. Can people hack into my system through my wireless connection?

Yes.

But the good news is, you can fix that. Use 128-bit WEP encryption. The generally recommended setup for a home network is to use "Open Authentication" with "Shared Key", which means you will need to enter the same key value into every device connecting to your network. (If you have a wireless printer, you may need to hook it up wired temporariliy to set this key.)

For an additional layer of protection, you should be able restrict the ehternet card MAC addresses allowed on the network. Fire up all the machines at once, and add them to the "allowed" list.

[cripplecreek]

We recently started sharing the connection (and cost) with a neighbor. I'm not the computer expert here but my wife had to let him in so the firewall must work for wireless.

[ConservativeMind]

Getting onto other people's wireless routers is illegal in some states now, including Illinois.

People can hack into your system most easily if you are unencrypted, have no software firewall on, and have Windows File and Printer Sharing turned on. Also, if you haven't changed the default password on your router and your router allows wireless connection to the Administration page, then even if you correctly set all the rest, a hacker could very easily change it all to his benefit (save for the Windows-specific items).

[Trampled by Lambs]

I recently installed a wireless router and am only using mac address filtering for security. Is it enough? Seems like it would be since it will only allow mac addresses from my exception list to access the network.

Should I enable encryption as well?

Anyone?

[MarineBrat]

Go to this web page...

http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

And listen to episodes numbers 10 and 11.

DO NOT use WEP security as everyone is telling you. WEP is NOT SECURE! Use WPA with a looong password.

[kevkrom]

I recently installed a wireless router and am only using mac address filtering for security. Is it enough?

No. A sophisticated hacker can read the MAC addresses being transmitted in the non-encrypted traffic. Should I enable encryption as well?

Abosultely. Even if you didn't care about other people using your network, you don't want everything you send to be "in the clear" for anyone to potentially read. That's anything with a password, credit card, etc.

[Niteranger68]

Five things will keep you safe:

1) A hardware firewall (should be part of your wireless router)

2) A software firewall (Windows, Norton, ZoneAlarm, Sygate)

3) Minimum 64-bit WEP encryption (128-bit preferred) set-up in the wireless router

4) Do not share any hard drives

5) Create passwords for all Windows users/accounts

[MarineBrat]

I recently installed a wireless router and am only using mac address filtering for security. Is it enough? Seems like it would be since it will only allow mac addresses from my exception list to access the network.

Your MAC address is included in every single packet you send out over the airwaves, so someone who's sniffing you knows your MAC address immediately.

MAC address filtering will only keep out honest people.

[Terpfen]

Guys, WEP isn't secure. It's easily hackable within minutes using software that'll do it for you.

Use WPA at a minimum, WPA2 if at all possible.

[kevkrom]

Oh great.. now I gotta go home and upgrade the router tonight...

[EarthBound]

128-bit encrpyted WEP is easily hacked? This is news to me. Can you post a source?

Thanks

[EarthBound]

128-bit encrypted WEP is easily hacked? This is news to me. Can you post a source?

Thanks

[Terpfen]

Cracking 128-bit WEP in 15 minutes, courtesy of YouTube.

[EarthBound]

Well well, thanks for this. Guess I'll be switching my stuff tonight.

[MarineBrat]

To everyone reading this thread...

MAC address filtering is useless! SSID hiding, useless. WEP encryption, broken and next to useless. The only way to secure your wireless access point is WPA.

I mentioned listening to two episodes of SecurityNOW! in my other post. I'm also going to recommend episode #13, "Unbreakable WiFi Security."  http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

If you take the time to listen to these discussions you will be miles ahead of anyone who might wish to hack you.