Why Having A Secure Wireless Network Is Important

Theft

Theft

All information transmitted on an unsecured wireless network is available to all varieties of unscrupulous people, including those who wish to steal the identities and whatever other sources of information that the owner of the network would rather not have shared with a stranger, not to mention a stranger who may have maliciousness on the mind.

For example, a group in 2003 gained easy access to Lowe"s Hardware unsecured wireless access point. From there they installed a program which captured all credit card transactions taking place within the unsecured network.

Abuse

A person who wants to conduct business on the internet but doesn"t want that business being traced back to him can use an unsecured wireless network, the owners of which can then become the recipients of any repercussions. Examples of such abuses include a man hijacking a network to download child pornography, which is obviously highly illegal. Even if the owners of the network never ventured to such revolting websites, according to Joseph Burton, an attorney with the New York law firm Duane Morris, said they can still be held liable for any illegal activities conducted through their network because of their negligence in setting up adequate security. Other examples of illegal activities that can be conducted on unsecured wireless networks include: distribution of computer viruses, spam, downloading of illegal copyrighted material and even terrorist communications. Even something like peer-to-peer downloading of illegal files can harm the wireless network"s owner. Harm comes from decreased internet speeds, not to mention a possible target and fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the RIAA.

In conclusion, failure to properly protect one"s wireless networks can be not only a nuisance, but a possible disaster waiting to happen. With ample information available online to help owners secure their networks, there is truly no reason unprotected networks remain fairly commonplace--the risks are far too great, the solutions far too simple.

According to Wikipedia: There are three principal ways to secure a wireless network.

For closed networks (like home users and organizations) the most common way is to configure access restrictions in the access points.

For commercial providers, hotspots, and large organizations, the preferred solution is often to have an open and unencrypted, but completely isolated wireless network.

Wireless networks are less secure than wired ones; in many offices intruders can easily visit and hook up their own computer to the wired network without problems, gaining access to the network, and it's also often possible for remote intruders to gain access to the network through backdoors like Back Orifice. One general solution may be end-to-end encryption, with independent authentication on all resources that shouldn't be available to the public.

by: Zachary Kitchen

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