Secure your Wi-Fi: Measures and countermeasures for everyone

Wireless networks (Wi-Fi) make it easy to access the internet from your computer, mobile phones, tablets and other wireless devices located anywhere in your home without the need for cables.
With traditional wired networks, it is extremely difficult for someone to steal your internet connections, but the problem with wireless signals is that they can be intercepted by a neighboring building or a car parked outside your apartment.

This practice, also known as piggybacking, can be harmful for three reasons:

It will increase your monthly Internet bill especially if you pay per byte for data transfer.
It will reduce your internet access speed since you will be sharing the same connection with other users.
It can create security risks as you may lose files from your computers, or your IP may be found in the records of the Cybercrime Prosecution for an attack that you did not carry out.

• The Malicious Scenario: There have been several cases where innocent users have been caught sending emails from hacked email accounts over compromised Wi-Fi networks they were using at home. Wireshark is a free Internet packet sniffing tool for Linux, Mac, and Windows that can detect traffic leaking over a wireless network, including cookies, forms, and other HTTP requests.

Wireless Wi-Fi Network Measures and Countermeasures

Below we will see how you can make your wireless network secure. We will look at the security measures you should take, as well as the countermeasures that hackers use to breach your network.

As for countermeasures now, there are many. We will only mention a few, the ones we consider to be the main ones.

Change the router settings

You should know how to access your wireless router’s settings via your browser. You can usually do this by typing the internal IP address “192.168.1.1” into your browser. You will then need to enter the correct username and password to view the settings page. The names and passwords are different for each router, so you should check your router’s user manual first.

You can also use Google to find user manuals for most routers online in case you lose the printed manual that came with your device.

Alternatively, you can use the portable application (no installation required) Router Default Passwords which will display everything you need on your screen.

• Password: does frequent change help with security?

The application only works on Windows. If you still cannot find the IP to connect to, open the list below:

If you are looking for the default passwords for the settings page, the websites Router Reset and PortForward.com will have you covered.

Create a unique password for your router

Once you're connected, the first thing you should do to secure your network is to change the default password. Once you've found it, others can find it too.

This will prevent others from accessing it and you can keep the security settings you want. You can change the password from the admin settings on the router's settings page. The default values ​​are usually admin/password.

• The malicious scenario: There are many public databases that contain default usernames and passwords for wireless routers, modems, and other networking equipment. So anyone can find the factory settings of your router from such a database. As long as they are connected to the same Wi-Fi, they can connect to one of the internal IPs mentioned above. Your router's page lists the manufacturer... and so without delay they can find the default username-password.

Change your network's SSID

The SSID (or wireless network name) of your wireless router is usually preset as a “default” by the manufacturer, or by your line provider (e.g. CYTA5BFV, or Fortnet-*). Changing the SSID name will not make your network more secure, especially if you use your name, home address, or other personal information as the network name. I have occasionally come across SSIDs that are mobile numbers, full names, etc.

• The malicious scenario: Wi-Fi scanning tools like inSSIDer (Windows) and Kismet (Mac, Linux) are free and allow anyone to find all available wireless networks in an area, even if the routers do not broadcast their SSID name.

Enable network encryption

To prevent other computers in the area from using an internet connection, you should encrypt your wireless signals.

There are various encryption methods for wireless settings, such as: WEP, WPA (WPA-Personal), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2).

WEP is a very basic encryption and thus is less secure (i.e. can be easily cracked). However, it is compatible with most devices. WPA2 encryption is more secure but is only compatible with hardware manufactured since 2006.

To enable encryption on your wireless network, open the wireless security settings on your router's configuration page. From there you can usually choose which security method you want to use. Of course, if your equipment is not old, use WPA2. Choose a strong password using a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters.

• The malicious scenario: AirCrack and coWPAtty are some free tools that allow even non-hackers to crack WEP/WPA (PSK) encryption using a dictionary or brute force techniques. A YouTube video shows that AirCrack can also be used to crack WiFi encryption on a jailbroken iPhone.

Watch the video

MAC address filtering

All of your wireless devices have a unique MAC address (it has nothing to do with Apple Macs). Think of the MAC address as the unique IP address that every computer connected to the Internet has.

So as an additional means of protection, you can add the MAC addresses of all the devices you use to your wireless router settings. This way, you only allow specific devices to connect to your Wi-Fi network.

MAC addresses are hardcoded into networking equipment. Unfortunately, spoofing a MAC address is possible, but an attacker would first need to know one of the MAC addresses of the computers connected to your wireless network before they can attempt the spoofing.

To enable MAC address filtering, first create a list of all the devices you want to connect to your wireless network. Find their MAC addresses, then add them to the MAC address filters in your router settings.

To find the MAC address on your computers, open Command Prompt and type the following command:

ipconfig /all

The command will display your MAC address next to the name “Physical Address.” You can find the MAC addresses of wireless phones and other portable devices you use in your network settings.

• The malicious scenario: Someone can change their computer's MAC address and can easily connect to your network, since your network allows connections from devices that have that specific MAC address. Anyone can determine the MAC address of your device wirelessly using a sniffing tool like Nmap and then can change their computer's MAC address using another free tool like MAC Shift.

Reducing the range of the wireless signal

If your wireless router has a long range, but your apartment is small, it might be a good idea to reduce the signal range by either changing your router's mode to 802.11g (instead of 802.11n or 802.11b) or using a different wireless channel.

You can also try placing the router under the bed to somewhat limit the direction of the signals.

Alternatively, let's mention Paint : Researchers have developed a special paint that blocks Wi-Fi and can help you stop neighbors from accessing your home network without having to configure anything on your router. The paint contains chemicals that block radio signals by absorbing them.

“By covering the entire room, Wi-Fi signals can’t get in and can’t get out.”

Upgrade your router's firmware

You should occasionally check the manufacturer's website to make sure your router is running the latest firmware available.

Connect to your secure Wi-Fi network

To conclude, MAC address filtering along with WPA2 (AES) encryption and a very complex password, is probably the best way to secure your wireless network.

Once you have enabled the above security settings on your wireless router, you need to add the new settings to your computers or other wireless devices you use so that they can connect to your secure Wi-Fi. You can choose to connect to the network automatically, without having to type in the password each time.

Who is connected to your wireless network?

If you're worried that someone else is connected to your wireless network, try AirSnare. It's a free utility that will scan your wireless network for unexpected MAC addresses as well as DHCP requests.

Another option is to open your router's administration page (using the address 192.168. *) and look for the DHCP Clients Table. From there you will see a list of all the computers and wireless devices connected to your home network.

Additionally

Turn off your router completely when you don't plan on using your computer for an extended period of time. You'll save energy and the door will be 100% closed to piggybackers.

To allow a new device to connect to your network, you need to find the device's MAC address and add it to your router. That way, if a friend wants to connect, you can give them access. Remove their MAC address from your router settings after they've disconnected.