The Promise of Invisible Internet Connections

Just a thought, would it not be a wonderful thing to have just about any information available any time you needs it, when ever you need it, where ever you need it?

Certain cities are making this technology publicly available. Hamilton, Toronto, New Brunswick, just to mention a few. This technology is called wireless technology. New Brunswick has increased business 300 times according to the mayor of New Brunswick. The network is called Fred-eZone. You can check it out at - http://www.fred-ezone.com/

The idea of Wireless networking is great. It solves a problem having to wire in networks. It also does not restrict where you place your computer. You can now set a computer anywhere and get the Internet. Sound like a good plan? Absolutely. But hang on there! What about the risks? The risks could be losing your information. Let me explain. I drove down a road in Cooksville just about a month ago. I pulled out my laptop and started it up, and proceeded to check for wireless networks that might be available. I was in a residential area and I had a choice of 11 networks that my stock Acer laptop could pick up from the roadside. Of those 11 networks, only 2 were secured.

Translation: 9 families in that short area of a residential city block are offering up their information to anyone driving by with a wireless device. Let’s see, what type of information they might be looking for? Social Insurance numbers (on income tax returns), personal contact information, Family Trees, Web history, quite possibly use a keystroke tracking device to see what you type in to your computer, like a User ID and Password to your on-line banking. Sound shocking? It might be if you have a wireless network and do not have it secured.

Even if you do have your wireless secured, you may want to make sure that you have your computer set up as secure as possible so that if they break into the wireless, they cannot access your files. What do you mean “break into my secure wireless”? Well that is doable. There are all kinds of free downloadable products on the Internet that will enable someone to crack wireless security. If that is the case, do you have your home workstation hardened? You might want to make sure you are doing everything possible to secure your personal information. Just in case you don’t want to, you could buy some Identity Theft insurance from State Farm. They have that now. Looks to me like the Insurance Companies see Identity Theft as a viable threat. Maybe you should too.

Recommendations:

Read the Router manual that comes with your wireless equipment. If you do not understand the manual, get it translated from Geek Speak to what ever language you speak and follow the recommendations for full security. If you don’t have the time or interest, then hire CIA Computing Ltd, your local computer network security professionals to get the job done.

Summary – if you choose not follow the security recommendations outlined in your equipment manuals, you are compromising your personal information making it available to hackers who sell information for a living. Think about this for a minute; if the big companies are now using high security computer authentication methods, such as Radius servers, certificate authorities, and biometric authentication devices, most personal and home office computer users do no have the money or the technical ability to set up these kinds of security measures. Where are the hackers going to go for Identities? Not the big companies. The Computer Forensic Experts are now suggesting that hackers are going after the common household or small business with an unsecured router. Get Smart, and Get Secure. If you need help, you can hire our company CIA Computing Ltd.