Wireless Internet Security is more susceptible to eavesdropping than wired LAN. Mostly all the wireless routers support wireless Internet security standards such as 64-bit/128-bit WEP encryption and the latest WPA/WPA2 security standards. What are these WEP and WPA? The following description is an editorial from Wikipedia.
In wireless internet security, WAP stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) which is a certification program created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks (such as common today home wireless network such as Netgear wireless router; Linksys wireless or D-Link wireless network). This protocol was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) in wireless internet security is a deprecated algorithm to secure IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Wireless networks broadcast messages using radio and are thus more susceptible to eavesdropping than wired networks. When introduced in 1997, WEP was intended to provide confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network.
The later WPA2 certification mark in wireless internet security indicates compliance with an advanced protocol that implements the full standard. This advanced protocol will not work with some older network cards. Products that have successfully completed testing by the Wi-Fi Alliance for compliance with the protocol can bear the WPA certification mark.
WPA2 replaced WPA; like WPA, WPA2 requires testing and certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance. WPA2 implements the mandatory elements of 802.11i. In particular, it introduces a new AES-based algorithm, CCMP, which is considered fully secure. Certification began in September, 2004; from March 13, 2006, WPA2 certification is mandatory for all new devices to bear the Wi-Fi trademark.
IEEE 802.11i-2004 or 802.11i in wireless internet security is an amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard specifying security mechanisms for wireless networks. It replaced the short Authentication and privacy clause of the original standard with a detailed Security clause, in the process deprecating the broken WEP. The amendment was later incorporated into the published IEEE 802.11-2007 standard.
Wireless Internet Security - Wi-Fi Certified
Some of the wireless routers with WPA/WPA2 compliant are Lilnksys wireless routers; Belkin and D-Link wireless routers.
The above wireless internet security terms are the foundations of all wireless router or any wireless adapters manufacturers (including USB wireless cards, PCI wireless adapters; or PCMCIA wireless cards) that claim their wireless products are WPA/WPA2 compliant with the Wi-Fi Certified logo.
Mostly the wireless internet security of all the wireless routers is disabled by default. So if you do not want to use wireless internet security, keep the default.
If you are using WPA in wireless internet security, always remember that each device in your wireless network must use the same WPA method and shared key, or else the network will not function properly.
Wireless MAC filter
Wireless Internet Security - MAC Address
One of the wireless internet security methods is MAC filter. MAC is the unique physical address of network devices including wireless adapters. MAC address is burned permanently into the network devices. How can we know what the physical address of a device is?
Wireless Internet Security - MAC Filter
In a command prompt (press Windows + R keys simultaneously and type in CMD and press enter) type ipconfig /all command and you can find that the physical address is 00-1C-F0-B9-F3-24.
In some wireless routers, wireless MAC filter disabled by default. If you need to filter wireless users by MAC address, either permitting or blocking access, select Enabled. The following illustration, the wireless router enables the wireless MAC filter by allowing only MAC address 00-1C-FD-D9-F3-24. Therefore a laptop in this wireless radius with MAC address 00-1C-F0-D9-F3-11 is not allowed to access the wireless network. Continue to part2
See also:
My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on several websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!