In my neighborhood, there are 14 unsecured wireless networks around me.

GG? I really wish network setup came with at least WPA protection by default. What can we do to stop this madness?

 

Can you use all of them? I dunno about you, but even the unsecured networks in my neighborhood seem to not provide internet even though every indication says it's connected.

 

There are plenty of ways to secure a wireless network.

1) Disable SSID broadcast
2) Filter access by MAC address(es)
3) WPA/WEP encryption

I personally use all of those on my home network. These features are available on pretty much every wireless router... if the owner of the network chooses/fails to secure their network then that's their decision. Some people don't like the hassle of setting things up and would rather have as simple a process of connecting as possible.

If you want to help spread the word about securing wireless networks, perhaps you should make a flyer and stick it in your neighbors' mailboxes, or ring their doorbell if you are comfortable with that course of action.

 

Consider the drawback of those security features before using them. While I dont take into heart everything this blog says, the author does make some strong points.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=43

 

I bet there will at least a couple of them "waiting" for their first victim to connect.

 

Well I guess my MAC filtering is a complete waste of time. A big "Duh!" to me.

 

I agree with the guy's article yet disagree at the same time. I wasted some time reading the comments in response to the article and the prevailing notion there was that the 6 "dumb" steps weren't a complete waste of time because at least they prevent people from accidentally connecting/trying to connect to your network and that a very small percentage of people have the knowledge to get past those simple measures anyway.

Overall, I don't think disabling SSID or MAC filtering are "dumb" at all. Sure, they're dumb if you think they will prevent an expert from accessing your system but fortunately not many people have that threat. That is why you should utilize WPA-PSK encryption IN ADDITION to the other security measures.

 

While the author of that article makes some valid points about the minimal effect of these methods to stop a determined intruder going offensively after a corporate environement, he is incorrect that it is a waste of time and I certainly disagree with him on this aspect. Most of the configurations mentioned take less than a minute to set-up for someone famliar with a router for home use and less than 30 minutes if they have no clue what to do and read all of the documentation on it.

If there are 14 unsecured wireless networks in your neighborhood and you have the secured one who do you think an attacker will go for first? Obviously you want to try and enlighten the unsecured ones if possible as well but some people don't care to be bothered and accept the risk associated with those actions.

Even in a corporate environment you cannot ever truly prevent all access from a determined attacker while providing functionality, but these methods will certainly delay many casual intruders driving around with a laptop.