It may come as a bit of a shock, but many people simply don’t have security on their minds. With all the stories concerning major security breaches of large corporations like Target and Home Depot, businesses are definitely paying attention, but many private individuals don’t look at data security as a top priority. Even some smaller companies, while focusing on security for sensitive information, may unwittingly engage in practices putting that data at risk. One particular point of emphasis is the WiFi network.
Both at home and in the office, people connect to WiFi networks all the time, making tests that show the most popular WiFi routers are surprisingly easy to hack all the more disconcerting. Flaws in WiFi networks can lead to some major damage, as seen in a recent incident in Brazil where hackers broke into 4.5 million home modems. So how easy is it to hack into a WiFi network, and what can people do about it? The answers can end up saving people and businesses a lot of headaches and potential financial damages.
How Hackers Hack the WiFi Network
Some people may be shocked to find out how easy it is for an attacker to hack into a WiFi network. One of the most popular targets are free public WiFi hotspots, usually found in places like fast food restaurants. With dozens of customers connecting to the same network, hackers have plenty of information to steal. Once hackers get into a public WiFi network, they’re able to see displayed passwords and monitor what each user is doing on their email and social media accounts. Freeware makes all this eavesdropping all the easier. But public WiFi isn’t the only vulnerable area; private networks can also be enticing.
Hackers have a wide variety of ways to attack a private WiFi network. Three attacks in particular are the most common: trivial attacks (launched against routers), unauthenticated attacks (malicious links, unsafe pages), and authenticated attacks (require credentials from user). Hackers may also try piggybacking, war driving, or even setting up their own mock WiFi hotspot to attack those who unknowingly connect to it. Needless to say, with a multitude of strategies, hackers can be extremely effective at compromising network security.
Protecting your WiFi Network
Compounding this issue is the fact that it’s often very difficult to tell when your WiFi has been hacked until it’s too late. While it’s true that a noticeable slowdown in your internet speed may be one indication of hacking, there are many perfectly harmless reasons your internet might slow down. If people and businesses want to protect their WiFi, they’ll need to take preventative measures to do so.
When setting up a router, users should go into the settings and choose the most secure encryption capabilities. Go with a WPA or WPA2 authentication protocol, which are more secure options than WEP. For businesses, choose the Enterprise setting as long as the company uses authentication servers. Another important step might seem a bit obvious, but it’s also one of the first and most important lines of defense: the password. Most WiFi routers come with default passwords, but during the setup phase, user are asked to change it. Passwords need to be strong and difficult to decipher. This strategy includes notable tips like having capital letters, numbers, and symbols. The password should also be changed on a regular basis, reducing the chances of it being leaked. People and businesses can also take steps to reducing the range of the wireless network, giving hackers less of a chance to attack it from afar.
There are other ways people in the office and at home can protect themselves from hackers trying to infiltrate their WiFi networks. The operations dealing with the most sensitive information should only be done on web pages that have active SSL encryption. You can check this by looking at the url bar. If the web address begins with “https” and has the image of a padlock next to it, the encryption is active and all communication will look scrambled to hackers. Software should also be updated on a continual basis, ensuring your equipment has the latest defenses and security. Using a virtual private network (VPN) is also a good strategy, though that does require an added cost for the service.
However you look at it, WiFi is not completely safe. Hackers will always look for ways in break into networks, and no security strategy will be 100% foolproof. Taking the above steps and understanding how hackers work, however, can make securing your data easier and more effective. The harder a hacker has to work to compromise a network, the more likely he or she will look for easier targets. The right security strategy can end up saving individuals and companies a lot of money in the long run.