Wireless Security: Easily Fool Proof, but Hard to Foolproof

After reading the two articles on Wireless security, it’s safe to say that there are many ways to secure a wireless connection to the internet.  Each offers another level of security to prevent others from connecting to your wireless network.  People can easily access your network if none of these security measures are implemented, and can use this connection to access the internet or even access files on any other computer connected to the same wireless network.  Many of these security measures are easy to implement and require no extra devices or software.  Both articles made suggestions as to what you can do to make your wireless network more secure.  One article was focused on wireless security at home while the other focused on wireless security for your business and the possibility of needing to secure many computers as opposed to just a few.

The first thing you should do is to change the default administrator username and passwords for all of your access points.  Doing this stops others from changing options on your access point or router.

Both articles suggest that you enable WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy, which uses an encryption key to secure access.  WEP can possess either 64 or 128 bit encryption.  One of the articles also mentioned WAP encryption.  WAP or Wi-Fi Protected Access is like the next generation of WEP.  WEP uses a static encryption code which hackers can discover using reverse-engineering.  Using WAP allows you to use a temporary encryption key, which changes with every data packet sent or received.  While WAP is supposedly more secure both systems can be hacked into and are not 100% foolproof.

Both article also mentioned to change the Default SSID of your modem/router.  Your SSID is the name of the wireless signal broadcast to computers within range.  Normally the default SSID is the brand name of your WIFI device.  Most devices broadcasting a default SSID are considered to be poorly configured WIFI networks, especially considering that changing the SSID is one of the easiest things to do.  One of the articles suggested not changing the SSID to your company’s name, address, or any name that would attract attention.  Another option for your SSID mentioned by both articles, is to disable the broadcast of your SSID.  Disabling “Broadcast SSID” will prevent your SSID from appearing as an available network when nearby computers are trying to connect to a network.  You must then know the SSID to connect to your network as opposed to just choosing it from a list of networks.

Enabling MAC address filtering is another security measure mentioned by both articles.  MAC address stands for Media Access Control address.  Every device that can connect to a wireless network has a MAC address. By enabling MAC address filtering on your router, you can effectively limit the MAC addresses that your router allows to connect to it to only your wireless devices.  Similarly each device has an IP address.  DCHP automatically assigns an IP address to devices trying to connect to a network.  By assigning static IP addresses for each computer or device and turning DCHP off on your router and only allowing IP addresses from your devices.

Positioning your router in the middle of your home or office building will not only spread access throughout your building, but also limit the area outside that can access your network.  Try to keep your router away from an outside wall or windows.

Other ways of improving security are by enabling firewalls on your computers and/or routers, turning your network off during extended periods of non-use, and don’t connect to open WIFI networks. 

For large networks connecting many computers (usually a business or corporation) I’d recommend using a VPN to provide the best security out of any of these options.  The downfall to VPN’s are they are expensive to set up.  For a private home network or small business, I’d recommend using a few of the techniques above.  The more you use, the more secure your network is.

The Death of Browsers? I Think Not.

The article from Wired.com Magazine, “The Web is Dead.  Long Live the Internet”, is about the emergence of applications on wireless devices such as iPhones and Android phones as well as on Blu-Ray players and home gaming systems.  The article claims that applications are taking over how we use the Internet.  It says that instead of the traditional way of “surfing the web” using a web browser, people are using applications such as “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “Netflix”, and “The New York Times” to receive information.  Wired.com writers back up their claim with numbers. 

Chris Anderson writes, “Today the content you see in your browser — largely HTML data delivered via the http protocol on port 80 — accounts for less than a quarter of the traffic on the Internet.”  But you could argue against this because the amount of data transferred by NetFlix, YouTube, Pandora, etc. is much greater than what’s transferred when you view a normal webpage.

Michael Wolff backs him with a study comparing the most used websites (which are most likely to have their own applications) to every other website saying, “According to Compete, a Web analytics company, the top 10 Web sites accounted for 31 percent of US page views in 2001, 40 percent in 2006, and about 75 percent in 2010.” 

This trend seems to show that people are leaning towards using applications to get most of their information. As an iPhone user, I can say that if other people are like me I definitely prefer using certain apps for getting content from the internet.  Browsing in Safari on my iPhone can sometimes be cumbersome because most web pages are designed to be viewed on a larger screen.  Although this is a major downfall, there are many things I dislike about applications.  The information you can get from a single app is extremely limited, also the things you can do in these applications are limited.

ReadWriteWeb.com has an article claiming that browsing is not dead just migrating to a different format called Mobile Touch Websites (see http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mobile_app_or_browser-based_site.php).  When browsing on your mobile device, if you go to a major corporation’s website, most likely you will be redirected to a mobile version of their site.  This version offers mobile users easier navigation and viewing on their mobile device.  The number of Mobile Touch Websites has skyrocketed in the last two years. Richard MacManus writes, “Taptu estimates that there are 326,000 Mobile Touch Web sites worldwide, which they say compares to 148,000 iPhone apps in the App Store and 24,000 apps in the Android market.  Taptu expects the browser-based mobile web market to grow much faster than the app market.”

Okay I admit I mostly use apps when I’m on the move and need to check my bank account, to watch a video on YouTube,  to stream music from Pandora, or basically anything that I routinely do.  When I’m trying to find information on anything out of the ordinary, whether at home or on the go, I use a browser because it’s the fastest way to get what I’m looking for.  Browsers have been the prevalent way to access information on the Internet since it’s conception.  I doubt they will die as Wired.com’s article suggests.  Rather how browsers are used will likely change to accommodate the boom in users now browsing the internet from their mobile devices. 

Things to consider when purchasing a new computer

When purchasing a new computer, there are many different options to consider. The first things you should decide are: what are you planning to use the computer for, and how much are you willing to spend on your purchase. By weighing these two factors, you can decide what options you need, what you can do without and how to get the best computer for your needs while not spending too much money for your budget.

The biggest question to ask yourself when buying a computer is, “What am I planning to use this computer for?” Computers can be used for a wide variety of tasks. The most common are: browsing the internet, downloading media, listening to music, watching videos, keeping track of finances, using for school/work, and playing video games. Others use their computers as a creative environment for recording music, editing videos, graphic design, etc. Decide what you want to do with your computer and what programs you will need to do it. Any computer program out there will have specific minimum system requirements in which your computer must possess. Components you should pay special attention to are the Processor, RAM (Random Access Memory), Hard Drive, Graphics Card, and Input/ Output devices.

Once you figure out your price range and uses for your computer. Your first choice is on the type of computer you will purchase. Computers come in different formats including compact PC’s, all in one PC’s, laptop PC’s, and traditional tower PC’s. Compact PC’s offer a small size but often lack in hardware capabilities and their ability for upgrades. All-in-one PC’s come with all components built into the back of the screen. Some have touch screen capability, but are high in price, and upgrade ability is limited. Laptop PC’s offer portability, but are also limited in their ability for upgrades. Tower PC’s are bigger and require all components to be connected to it, but they offer the most power and can be upgraded easily with additional RAM, hard drives, and better graphics cards.

Next you should choose an operating system for your computer. Either way you go the operating system should come preinstalled on your computer (unless you are building your own computer). So Windows or Mac is the question. Windows OS offers a more cost effective computer; therefore there are more Windows users and more programs available to choose from. Mac however is more user friendly and poses less of a risk for computer viruses.

Finally we get to the guts of your computer. Your processor is where it all starts. The faster the speed of your processor, the faster your computer can complete any process it’s given to do. No matter how big of a hard drive you get or how much memory you get, you are always limited my your processor’s speed. There are many different kinds of processors available today: single core, dual core, quad core, eight core (two quad core processors working together). I recommend at least a dual core processor.

Next comes the RAM or Random Access Memory. Information is temporarily stored in your RAM. RAM is used to run the operating system, programs, and data being currently used. It communicates with the processor faster than a hard drive, which needs to be searched to find the data it contains. The more RAM you have the more programs you can have open simultaneously without bogging down the computer’s speed. I’d recommend at least 4GB of RAM to keep your computer running smoothly.

Hard Drives store all your computers information permanently. It stores your operating system, programs, and all files including documents, music, videos, etc. The bigger your hard drive is the more data you can store. I like hard drives to be at least 500GB, but 1TB is preferable.

Your Graphics Card connects to your display and controls how many colors your computer outputs, and the rate your computer outputs graphics. In my experience any one works fine, but I’m not a hardcore gamer or video editor. If you plan on playing games or editing video I’d recommend that you purchase a higher end Graphics Card.

Your Input Devices consist of a keyboard, mouse, printer/scanner, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray players and burners, Firewire ports, USB ports, webcam, microphone, etc. It’s up to you to decide what you need. You can always purchase these later and add them on as long as you have an input on your computer for it.

That being said, I am an audio engineer/music producer, so my needs for a computer would most likely be much more than the average consumer. If I bought a computer today, I would purchase a Mac because I am familiar with the operating system, and it is widely used by professionals in the music industry. I would purchase a tower, because I already have a laptop and a tower offers much more power and upgrade ability. If I had the money for it I would most definitely purchase an 8-core Mac Pro with dual 2.4GHz quad core processors, 8 or 12 GB of RAM, and two 1 TB hard drives. It must have a DVD burner and a decent graphics card but nothing a hardcore gamer would need. It also must have a Firewire port and a few USB ports, as these are necessary to connect an audio interface, and keyboard controllers for music production. Other input devices I would get are a keyboard and mouse as these are needed to do anything with a computer.