A recent study in September 2008 by The Neilson Company reveals that more than 17% of the households networks in the United States are wireless. As per forecasts back in October 2007 by Maravedis, a telecom market research firm , Wimax or Worldwide Interpretability for Wireless Access connections in India are expected to touch the 21 million mark by 2014. Wireless networks in London in 2007 had increased by 160 per cent from 2006, and is on a similar rise in 2008 as per an article published in The Register, UK's biggest online technical publication magazine. These statistics clearly indicate the phenomenal growth in wireless internet usage across the globe. While this may seem like a technological achievement to make peoples lives easier, it also provides hackers with almost unlimited loopholes to hack poorly secured networks.
Hacked computers are termed as zombies and are used by hackers to rob online identity, make fraudulent banking transactions and even send terror emails to the media after bomb blasts to claim responsibility!
The following preventive measures can be used to prevent misuse of wireless networks and the internet in general.
Use Secure Portals and Payment Gateways
Banking transactions made on unsecured websites can lead to leaking of credit card details. These details can then be used to generate a card bearing the same data as the original credit card which can then be used fraudulently. It is imperative to use secure portals and trusted payment gateways like Paypal and CCavenue.
Be Aware of Phishing
Phishing is a fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information like user Ids and passwords by issuing fake emails on the pretext of security verification. The emails appear to originate from genuine banks and the user is misled into submitting the information. The golden rule to follow is to never share or submit passwords or user Ids.
Change Wireless Network Passwords
Most users of wireless networks do not change the default password provided by the router vendor. These default passwords are known to hackers and it makes a hacker’s job easy to intrude any home network from hundreds of meters away. One should change the default password immediately before using the wireless network.
Change Service Set ID or SSID
SSID or Service Set ID is the name of the wireless network. Wireless router vendors leave a default SSID on installation of the router software. Hackers can easily swap a home computer’s default SSID with theirs without the user’s knowledge. Like the network password the SSID also needs to be changed immediately before using the wireless network.
Hide the Service Set ID or SSID
Sometimes changing the SSID is also not full proof as hankers have advanced methods to intrude into a wireless network if the SSID is known. To prevent such cases the SSID needs to be hidden. Router configuration softwares allow the SSID to be hidden and the steps are provided in the manuals.
Convert to Static IP Instead of Dynamic
Most home users use IP (Internet Protocol) addresses on the internet that are dynamic and are provided by randomly picking one from on the fly from a pool of IP addresses. Hackers can obtain a valid IP address from this pool and use it to gain access to the home user’s computer. This feature of assigning dynamic IP addresses can be turned off and a fixed IP can be used instead. Additionally if firewall access rules on the router and computer are limited to this static IP address, then the home computer is secure.
As technological advancements are made, the hackers update themselves and in most cases are ahead of the technology to find loopholes. Commercial and home users of the internet should therefore get educated and become aware of basic do’s and don’ts to combat fraudulent activity through wireless networks on the internet.
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