Last week, I received an e-mail from our internet provider informing me that we had abused our internet connection by attempting to download a movie via a bittorrent service. I'm quite the geek, so I know about bittorrents and downloading movies, but we were not the ones responsible for this particular activity.
We had, however, been running on a non-secure wireless connection via our router. Someone jumped onto our internet connection, committed copyright infringement, and we were responsible for it. Because we are running on our own personal router, we are responsible for all activity on the router. I took the steps to secure our connection on our router, and now I'm going to share the ones I find to be the top three with you.
- Secure remote administration access. Most routers can be accessed via a web browser. The default username and password are generally "admin" and "password." Many recommend simply disabling the remote administration, but at the very least you should change the password.
- Engage WPA or WEP encryption. There are differences between the two, as well as arguments for and against both, but any form of encryption on your connection is better than nothing. It's also a good idea to change these encryption keys on a regular basis.
- Disable SSID broadcasting. This feature broadcasts your network's name to other devices and networks nearby. By turning this off, you will make your network nearly invisible, making you less tasty-looking to hackers needing a quick jump.
There are plenty more methods to secure your connection, but these are the three I've found to be most important. While searching, I found a website called Practically Networked, with tons more tips, tricks, and advice for staying secure while you're surfing the internet.
Do you have any tips for keeping your connection secure?
Photo by Paul Klintworth
Loading ...
Comments are closed.