10 Top Tips For Protecting Yourself At Hot Spots
Wi-Fi hotspots have become ubiquitous at cafes, airports, restaurants, and other public location. In fact, more and more cities are creating hotspots that blanket entire metropolitan areas.But every time you connect at a hotspot, you're asking for trouble. hotspots are open networks that don't use encryption, which invites hacking and snooping.In addition, when you're on a hotspot you're connected to the same network as your fellow hotspot users, they can potentially weasel their way onto your PC and inflict damage.But don't let that deter you from connecting. There's plenty you can do to keep yourself safe at hotspots. Just follow these ten tips.
1. Disable Wi-Fi ad-hoc mode Wi-Fi runs in two modes: infrastructure mode, which you use when you connect to a network; and ad-hoc mode, when you connect directly to another PC. If you've enabled ad-hoc mode, there's a chance that someone near you can establish an ad-hoc connection to you without your knowledge, and they'll then have free reign in your PC. So when you're in a hotspot, make sure that ad-hoc mode is turned off. To do it:a. Right-click the wireless icon in the System Tray.b. Choose Status.c. Click Propertiesd. Select the Wireless Networks tab.e. Select your current network connection.f. Click Properties, then click the Association tab.g. Uncheck the box next to "This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network".h. Click OK, and keep clicking OK until the dialog boxes disappear.
2. Use a wireless Virtual Private Network (VPN). When you're at a hotspot, anyone nearby with a sniffer can see all the packets you send and receive. This means they can see your passwords, user names, email...anything you do online. A great way to protect yourself is with a wireless VPN that encrypts all the information you send and receive when you're online, so you'll be free from snoopers. My favorite is hotspotVPN. It's easy to set up and use; you don't need to download software, because it uses XP's built-in VPN software.
3. Use an encrypted USB flash drive. For maximum protection of your data, use a clean laptop that only has an operating system applications on it, and put all of the data you're taking with you on an encrypted USB flash drive. Many flash drives include encryption features. That way, even if someone somehow gets into your PC, they won't be able to read or alter any of your data.
4. Use a personal firewall. A firewall will protect you from anyone trying to break into your PC, and can also protect any spyware or Trojans on your PC from making outbound connections. The XP firewall offers only one-way protection; it doesn't stop outbound connections. So for maximum security, don't rely on XP's firewall. There are plenty of good firewalls out there, but for most purposes, the free version of ZoneAlarm is a great choice.
5. Turn off file sharing. It's fine to enable file sharing on your home network. But doing it at a public hotspot invites any of your close-by latte drinkers to start slurping files off your system. To turn it off. Turn it off by running Windows Explorer, right-clicking on the drive or folders you normally share, choosing Sharing and Security, and unchecking the box next to "Share this folder on the network."
6. Make sure the hotspot is a legitimate one. One of the latest hotspot scams is for someone to set up a hotspot themselves in a public location or cafe, and when you connect, steal your personal information, or ask you to type in sensitive information in order to log in. So before connecting at a hotspot, ask someone at the counter of the cafe the name of the hotspot, because someone may have set up another one, in the hopes of luring in the unwary.
7. Disable or remove your wireless adapter if you're working offline. Just because you're at a hotspot doesn't necessarily mean that you have to connect to the Internet -- you may want to work offline. If that's the case, remove your wireless card. If you instead have a wireless adapter built into your laptop, disable it. In XP, right-click the wireless icon, and choose Disable. If you're using the adapter's software to manage your connection, check the laptop on how to disable it.
8. Use email encryption. Much email software includes encryption features that encrypt messages and attachments. So turn on email encryption when you're at a hotspot. In Outlook 2003, select Options from the Tools menu, click the Security tab, and then check the box next to "Encrypt contents and attachments for outgoing messages." Then click OK.
9. Look over your shoulder. Sniffers and hacking techniques aren't required for someone to steal your user names and passwords. Someone only needs to peer over your shoulder to watch what you're typing. So make sure no one snoops on you as you computer.
10. Don't leave your laptop alone. Had too many lattes and need to hit the rest room? Don't leave your laptop behind. Laptop thefts are getting increasingly common at hotspots. In fact, San Francisco has been subject to a hotspot crime wave of sorts, with thieves even grabbing people's laptops while they were using them. Some hotspots have responded by including a port to which you can lock your laptop via a laptop lock.
Troubleshooting Poor WLAN Performance
After you've successfully installed a wireless LAN network but you've also received users complaining of erratic connections and slow performance, which hampers the use and benefits of WiFi applications. When this happens, you'll need to do some troubleshooting. You've to start by finding the root cause of the problems.Some probable root cases are:
(1) RF interference;
(2) High Utilization;
(3) Poor Coverage; and(4) Fault Access Point.
RF InterferenceRF interference delays users from sending/receiving data and causes collisions and resulting retransmissions. The combination of high noise levels and high retry rates generally indicates that RF interference is impacting your wireless LAN.RF Interference from other WLAN: Do a quick scan of other wireless LANs operating in your area.
If you see that others are set to the same channel as yours, then change your network to non-conflicting channels. Keep in mind that there are only three non-overlapping channels (e.g. 1, 6 and 11) in the 2.4GHz band.RF Interference from other 2.4GHz devices: Do a quick scan of other 2.4GHz operating devices with a spectrum analyzer.
If the noise level is above -85dBm in the band where users are operating, then RF interference has the potential to hurt performance. In this case, the retry rates of users will be typically above 10 percent. Such RF interference can occur, for example, when wireless users are in the same room as an operating microwave oven, or cordless phone.If you can't seem to reduce RF interference to acceptable levels, then try increasing RF signal strength in the affected areas. You can do this by increasing transmit power, replacing default antennas with units that have a higher gain, or placing the access points closer to each other.
This increases the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which improves performance.
High UtilizationWhen there are large numbers of active wireless users, or the users are operating high-end applications such as Wi-Fi phones or downloading large files, the utilization of the network may be reaching the maximum capacity of the access point. With this condition, the retry rates will be relatively high (greater than 10 percent), even if signal levels are high and noise levels are low (i.e., high SNR). The result is lower throughput per user due to the additional overhead necessary to retransmit data frames.
You can increase the capacity and resolve this problem by placing access points closer together with lower transmit power to create smaller radio cells. This "micro-cell" approach reduces the number of users per access point, which enables more capacity per user.
Another method for handling high utilization is to move some of the applications to a different frequency band. For example, you might consider having Wi-Fi phones interfacing with a 5GHz 802.11a network and data applications running over 2.4GHz 802.11b/g.
Poor Coverage
After installing a WLAN network, changes may take place inside the facility that alter RF signal propagation. For example, a company may construct a wall, which offers significant attenuation that wasn't there before. Worse, perhaps an RF site survey was not done prior to installing the network. These situations often result in areas of the facility having limited or no RF signal coverage, which decreases the performance and disrupts the operation of wireless applications.Indications of a coverage hole include low signal level (less than -75dBm) and high retry rates (greater than 10 percent), regardless of noise levels. The signal in this situation is so low that the receiver in the radio card has difficulties recovering the data, which triggers retransmissions, excessive overhead, and low throughput. For instance, a user will likely experience a 75 percent drop in throughput when operating from an area having low signal levels.To counter poor coverage scenarios, you need to improve the signal strength in the affected areas. Try increasing transmit power, replacing the antennas with ones having higher gain, or moving access points around to better cover the area. Perform a periodic RF site survey, possibly every few months, to ensure that no more occurrence of poor coverage.
Faulty Access Point
In some cases, the root cause of poor performance may be an access point that has failed. Check applicable access points for broken antennas, status lights indicating fault conditions and insufficient electrical power. Try rebooting the access points, which often resolves firmware lockups. Make sure that the firmware is up to date, however, to minimize lockups in the future!
(1) RF interference;
(2) High Utilization;
(3) Poor Coverage; and(4) Fault Access Point.
RF InterferenceRF interference delays users from sending/receiving data and causes collisions and resulting retransmissions. The combination of high noise levels and high retry rates generally indicates that RF interference is impacting your wireless LAN.RF Interference from other WLAN: Do a quick scan of other wireless LANs operating in your area.
If you see that others are set to the same channel as yours, then change your network to non-conflicting channels. Keep in mind that there are only three non-overlapping channels (e.g. 1, 6 and 11) in the 2.4GHz band.RF Interference from other 2.4GHz devices: Do a quick scan of other 2.4GHz operating devices with a spectrum analyzer.
If the noise level is above -85dBm in the band where users are operating, then RF interference has the potential to hurt performance. In this case, the retry rates of users will be typically above 10 percent. Such RF interference can occur, for example, when wireless users are in the same room as an operating microwave oven, or cordless phone.If you can't seem to reduce RF interference to acceptable levels, then try increasing RF signal strength in the affected areas. You can do this by increasing transmit power, replacing default antennas with units that have a higher gain, or placing the access points closer to each other.
This increases the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which improves performance.
High UtilizationWhen there are large numbers of active wireless users, or the users are operating high-end applications such as Wi-Fi phones or downloading large files, the utilization of the network may be reaching the maximum capacity of the access point. With this condition, the retry rates will be relatively high (greater than 10 percent), even if signal levels are high and noise levels are low (i.e., high SNR). The result is lower throughput per user due to the additional overhead necessary to retransmit data frames.
You can increase the capacity and resolve this problem by placing access points closer together with lower transmit power to create smaller radio cells. This "micro-cell" approach reduces the number of users per access point, which enables more capacity per user.
Another method for handling high utilization is to move some of the applications to a different frequency band. For example, you might consider having Wi-Fi phones interfacing with a 5GHz 802.11a network and data applications running over 2.4GHz 802.11b/g.
Poor Coverage
After installing a WLAN network, changes may take place inside the facility that alter RF signal propagation. For example, a company may construct a wall, which offers significant attenuation that wasn't there before. Worse, perhaps an RF site survey was not done prior to installing the network. These situations often result in areas of the facility having limited or no RF signal coverage, which decreases the performance and disrupts the operation of wireless applications.Indications of a coverage hole include low signal level (less than -75dBm) and high retry rates (greater than 10 percent), regardless of noise levels. The signal in this situation is so low that the receiver in the radio card has difficulties recovering the data, which triggers retransmissions, excessive overhead, and low throughput. For instance, a user will likely experience a 75 percent drop in throughput when operating from an area having low signal levels.To counter poor coverage scenarios, you need to improve the signal strength in the affected areas. Try increasing transmit power, replacing the antennas with ones having higher gain, or moving access points around to better cover the area. Perform a periodic RF site survey, possibly every few months, to ensure that no more occurrence of poor coverage.
Faulty Access Point
In some cases, the root cause of poor performance may be an access point that has failed. Check applicable access points for broken antennas, status lights indicating fault conditions and insufficient electrical power. Try rebooting the access points, which often resolves firmware lockups. Make sure that the firmware is up to date, however, to minimize lockups in the future!
7 Security Issues with WiFi Network
WiFi has gained a quantam leap since it was introduced to the mass market in year 1999. However, there are still a handful of security issues pertaining to WiFi network.We'll examine the seven issues here:
Issue 1: Easy Access. WiFi was designed to enable user to locate its presence easily. However, this pose a threat too. Attackers armed with high-gain antenna can hijack the WiFi network from a far distance. Hence, it is difficult to prevent any wardriving activities.
Issue2: Rogue Access Points. Generally, WiFi network in an organization must ensure its best security. However, an errant user may bring their personal access point (which is insecure) and plug it into the secured WiFi network. This expose a back-door to the secured WiFi network. Thus, to locate a rogue access point becomes is a challenging task.
Issue 3: Unauthorized Use of Service. Some WiFi network has maintain weak security or even no security. Hence, unauthorized usage is inevitable.
Issue 4: Service and Performance Constraints. Public WiFi network may has limit capacity and data rate limits. If an attacker launch a ping attack, the network will be congested and services will be interrupted.
Issue 5: MAC Spoofing and Session Hijacking. WiFi network does not authenticate all frames. MAC address is exposed in all frames. Hence, it is easy for an attack to spoof the MAC address and generate fake frames to confuse the network.
Issue 6: Traffic Analysis and Eavesdropping. WiFi network is almost "naked". An attack armed with passive sniffer can easily capture the packets from the airwave. It is nearly impossible to prevent causal sniffering from happening.
Issue 7: Higher Level Attacks. WiFi network is vulnerable to security threats. However, it is even more detrimental when an attacker sneak into the entire network to launch a high-level attack to the entired wired network.
