How to Block Hackers on Your Wireless Home Network?

Do the terms LAN, Network, Wireless or Security send you running toward the hills? You're not alone. Many people would rather carry on with their carefree web surfing at home than worry about this important aspect of wireless internet. Don't be fooled, hackers are a major threat and can do tremendous damage to your computer or even steal personal information. adding two simple things to your wireless home network can stop virtually all external hackers.

Follow the steps to secure wireless internet from Hackers:

• A router and home network setup is typically used for directing your DSL internet line to one or more computers in your home. Each computer will need a network adapter with a plug that accepts the network cable. In the case of wireless internet, each computer will need a wireless network adapter with an antenna instead of a cable plug. Follow the equipment instructions for installation and then use the Windows home office network setup wizard.

• Throw away your WEP router. It is a well-known fact that a router using the older technology called WEP security type can easily be hacked in less than 10 minutes, no matter how strong the password is set. Do not use any router unless it provides the latest WPA security type.

• Invest in a WPA router and network adapter. Most experts agree that the newer technology called WPA or WPA2 are the optimum choices to ensure the highest level of security for your wireless network. Be sure to get a WPA network adapter for each computer that you are going to have hooked up to the wireless network. Two of the best brands are LinkSys and D-Link.

• After you have installed your new WPA router and network adapter and performed the Windows home office network setup wizard, you will need to configure your router using the admin tool and instructions provided by the manufacturer. As part of the wireless setup, be sure to select the WPA security type. You will also be asked to set a password or security key.

• Use a hack-proof password for your wireless security key. This means it must be at least 10-digits, alpha-numeric, and totally random. There are no exceptions to this rule. It is a well-known fact that using this type of password would take 1,000 computers 500 years to break the code and hack into your computer. Use letters and numbers and make sure not to use words in the dictionary or even made up words. Example: dL7k945fjP

• To recap, use a WPA router and the strongest alpha-numeric password. Finally, wireless home networking is no longer a mystery. If you do these two simple things, you can sleep easy at night knowing that your wireless home network is protected from external intruders. Forget the myths you may have heard about using MAC filtering, blue tooth or positioning your router in the center of your home.
  

• This keeps virtually all hackers out of your wireless home network, but does not address internet hackers that can break into your computer while you are browsing the web. Certain websites or emails can infect your computer with a virus, and other spyware can steal your personal information. Therefore, it is imperative that you get a good anti-virus/firewall software to protect your computer while you are using the internet. The top brands include McAfee, Norton, and Panda Security.

Source: ehow.com

How to Stop Hackers from Invading your Network?

Unethical hackers are always looking for weaker points in a network system to hack the security system of your company and get hold of confidential and new information. Some such "black-hat hackers" derive a vicarious pleasure from wreaking havoc on security systems and some hackers do it for money. Whatever may be the reason, malicious hackers are giving nightmares to companies and organisations of almost all sizes. Especially, large corporate houses, banks, financial institutions, security establishments are favourite targets for hackers. However, this menace can be prevented to a great extent if proper security measures are taken at the right time.

• Some such "black-hat hackers" derive a vicarious pleasure from wreaking havoc on security systems and some hackers do it for money. Whatever may be the reason, malicious hackers are giving nightmares to companies and organisations of almost all sizes. Especially, large corporate houses, banks, financial institutions, security establishments are favourite targets for hackers. However, this menace can be prevented to a great extent if proper security measures are taken at the right time.

• Install proper scanning software programs to identify all entry points from the internet into the internal network of the company. These points have the weakest security controls which a hacker can easily target. Identifying these entry points, however is not at all an easy task. It is better to take the help of skilled ethical hackers who have taken special network security training to perform this task successfully.

• By running the attack and penetration tests, you can identify those vulnerable points in the network that can be easily accessed from both external and internal users. After identifying these points, you would be able to thwart attacks from external sources and correct the pitfalls that could become the entry points for intruders to hack into your network. The test must be done from both the internal as well as external perspectives to detect all the vulnerable points.

• All possible steps must be taken to make all the users of the network aware of the pitfalls of security and the necessary security practices to minimise these risks. You can conduct the social-engineering tests to determine the user awareness. Until all the users are aware of certain factors related to the network, protection cannot be carried out in the true sense of the term.

• A firewall if not configured properly can act like an open door for any intruder. Hence it is vitally important to set the rules to allow traffic through the firewall that is important to the business. A firewall must have its own configurations depending upon the security aspect of your organization. From time to time proper analysis of the composition and nature of the traffic itself is also necessary to maintain security.

• Use strong password policies by having passwords of seven characters which are of secure length and relatively easy to remember. Passwords must be changed in every 60 days. The password should also be made up of both alpha and numeric characters to make it more unique.

• Since the comments used in source code contain both usernames and passwords, they must also be removed to make the network safe from attackers. All the comments in source code that look inaccessible to external users should also be removed as there are some techniques with the help of which a hacker can even view the source code of nearly all web applications.

• Many default, test and example pages are the most targeted pages for a hacker through which the entire network can be hacked. These pages can give an insight into the design of the network system and the vulnerabilities associated with them. Hence it is advisable to remove such pages from the network.

• The services that are either disabled or removed from the system cannot be used by any hacker to extract information related to the network. Hence, such services must be disabled or removed when not in use.

• Both intrusion detection systems and anti-virus software must be updated regularly and if possible on a daily basis. The updated version of anti-virus software is necessary as it helps in detecting even the latest virus.

• Apart from ensuring the internal security of the network, you need to think about the physical security of your organization. Until and unless your organization has full security, any intruder can simply walk in your office premises to gain whatever information he wants. Hence with technical security, you must also ensure that the physical security mechanisms of your organization are fully functional and effective.

Source: ehow.com

How to Increase Router Security?

Increase router security to stop hackers from stealing your vital information. Stop worrying and protect your wireless network.

• The first step to increase router security, is to change your admin password on your router. To do this, you need to login to your router. This is done by entering the IP address for your router into the address bar on your browser. Routers come with a factory default User ID and password to safeguard a router's configuration panel. D-Link and Netgear often use 192.168.0.1. Belkin routers regularly have 192.168.2.1. Click the Tools tab, then Admin button, and change the Administrator password.

• Disable SSID Broadcast. To do this, login into your router and click the Home tab, then the Wireless button, and choose the Disable button next to SSID Broadcast. The SSID is the name that of your network that you see when you are trying to connect to it. With SSID disabled, your router will be "invisible" to average users.

• Enable WPA Security. Click the Home button, then the Wireless button. From the Security pull-down, choose WPA. Do not use WEP. WEP can be hacked within 5 minutes with the proper programs. WEP only uses numbers while WPA can use Numbers and Letters. This makes it a lot hard for programs to hack your access code.

• If you mess up your router's settings, you can use the "Reset to Factory Settings" button typically found on a router's homepage. This will reset your router to the factory settings so that you can start over.

Source: ehow.com