Wireless Network Security

• No Security

• MAC Address Authentication

• WEP

• WPA-PSK

• WPA-AES

Implementing a security enabled wireless network Tips

No Security
Of course the weakest wireless network security is simply having No Security which many wireless networks still have.

Mac Address Authentication
A Mac address is the serial number of your computers network card, each computer will have a different Mac address, this has to then be entered manually into your routers Mac address authentication or access list – and then if a computer tries to connect and it is not on the list its request is simply rejected.



Accessing your router
To find out your computers Mac address go to the Start Menu – Run – type CMD enter – now you will see a black dos shell screen – now type IPCONFIG /ALL – most computer have 2 network cards a wired and wireless, ensure you use the Wireless and not the wired network cards address will be something similar to 00-1E-8C-86-B0-BD

(if using Vista you may need to enable the run menu – Right Click on the Start Menu – Select Properties and choose Customize and make sure Run command is checked)

WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy
this was the original wireless Internet Security it was launched in 1997 and for three years was accepted as the standard, but in 2001 several security flaws were uncovered making it possible to being cracked in a matter of minutes.

Although there are still many WEP protected networks around, there really is no reason to be using this type of security, if you are using it you should upgrade to one of the later security types covered below.

WPA TKIP
Using TKIP/MIC Encryption it offers much more security than WEP, but this could still be cracked in 2-3 days

WPA AES
The latest type of security employs AES-CCMP encryption for better wireless network security , add this together with the ease of use and it is currently the best choice.

Implementing a Security Enabled Wireless Network

The Router
Adding security to a wireless network is really pretty straight forward, to begin with you need to access the admin interface on your wireless router/modem more here on this.

Then simply look for the wireless section and security, then choose your wireless network security type and add your security key, if you find your router only supports WEP check with the routers manufacturer, there will probably be a firmware update that will add WPA support.

Upgrading firmware to a router is again pretty straight forward as you only need to find the firmware update and use the upload section within the routers admin console to install it, but this must not be taken lightly, check and double check you are downloading the correct firmware for your router, trying to upload the wrong type could ruin your router.

Wireless Network Card
once the security is implemented from the router it really should be a case of viewing/selecting the wireless network and then entering your security credentials.

As above if you find your wireless network card does not support your routers security type check with the network cards manufacturers website, there should be an upgrade for this, if not you will either need to replace the card or change the routers wireless security type.

Tips
did you know you can implement more than one security type? In addition to WEP or WPA security you can also add MAC address authentication, giving your wireless network another line of defence.

Another option to increase security is to hide your wireless network.
From the routers admin console choose hide SSID (wireless network name)  – to connect to a hidden wireless network you can either enter the connection information manually, or leave the SSID visible and connect, and once connected hide the SSID, because your computer will already have the connection information stored it will still connect each time.

If you are not using a computer why not turn off your Wireless Router? Out of sight of out mind

PDA’s and Other Pocket Wireless Devices
Many older PDA’s or Pocket pc’s may not support the later generation of network security types, so you might have to choose multiple security types.

For more on wireless network security - Checkout our main wireless networking page

Accessing your home routers admin console -

computer adviser wireless network security article