Most of this is SOP for most Tech Talk posters, but I figured some posters here don't know all this.

Anything else on top of these procedures that you guys can thank of? Doesn't resetting the default gateway address of the router (from 192.168.X.X) offer some protection?

Quote :

"When I turn on my laptop at home and look for available wireless connections, I see a dozen of them. That's not surprising given the number of broadband connections in my neighborhood, each of which comes with a free wireless router. What's surprising is the fact that all of them, except a couple, are unsecured. Some of them still have the manufacturer's default password. They all violate the first rule of wireless computing: ALL WIRELESS NETWORKS MUST BE SECURED. Here are a few things you can do secure your wireless router and network: 1. Change your router's default password This should be the first step you take after you power up your router for the first time. Straight out of the box, most routers have a lame password such as "password" or no password at all. Not changing it is like leaving the front door of your house wide open before going on vacation. It's an invitation to bad guys. Change it. And write it down somewhere. If you forget it, (and you probably will because you don't need it all that often) you will have to push is a little button at the back to reset it. Remember that resetting clears all settings. You will have to set all the configuration options again. 2. Disable your router's remote administration option The next step is to disable remote administration for your router. If remote administration is enabled, anyone can access your router across the Internet. This option is only suitable for people who don't administer their own routers and commission some one else to do so for them over the Internet. Most people can do without it. 3. Disable wireless option if you don't use it If all your computers, printers, and pieces of other equipment are connected to the router by means of a cable, turn off the wireless connection, or "radio" as the documentation of some router calls it, on your router. If you can't find the option in your router's administration interface, your router is too old; you may want to get a new one. 4. Change your network's name Routers come with default names, of SSIDs as their names are called. Few people change them. That's why you see so many networks named WLAN or Netgear. Change the name. But don't change it to something like Joe's Network. That's a dead giveaway that it's your network. Choose a name that you will recognize but others won't. 5. Stop broadcasting the SSID Out of the box, broadcasting of SSIDs is enabled on most routers because other computer equipment can "see" the router and connect to it. But if you can see the network, so can everyone else within the router's wireless range. Stop broadcasting it. If you do, you will have to memorize the SSID and enter it every time you want to set up a new wireless connection on a computer. This certainly is an inconvenience but it's a small price to pay for maintaining a secure environment. Keep in mind that this simple maneuver will not stop determined hackers. 6. Enable encryption on your router Wireless routers employ three kinds of encryption schemes -- WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), and WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). WPA2 is the most secure scheme and WEP is the least secure one. WPA2 is available only on the latest routers. Use it if it is available on yours. If it isn't, see if WPA is. It is preferable to WEP which is relatively easy to crack and therefore the least desirable. But if WEP is all your router supports, use it anyway. It is still better than no encryption scheme. Remember that all your wireless equipment must support the encryption scheme you choose. If you select WPA for your router, but your wireless network card only works with WEP, you won't be able to connect to your router. The solution, then, is to either use the scheme which is the least common denominator on all your equipment or upgrade the older equipment which doesn't support the encryption scheme of your choice to newer models which do. 7. Limit the number of IP addresses Most routers have built-in DHCP servers. The DHCP server assigns IP addresses to computers and pieces of other equipment when they connect to the router. A typical home router can support a couple of hundred pieces of equipment. But you can limit the number of IP addresses that the DHCP server will dole out. If you have two computers and a network printer, you can limit the number of IP addresses your DHCP server issues to three. Mind you, this is not a fool-proof scheme. If one of your computers is off, one IP address is still up for grabs if a hacker can grab it. 8. Enable MAC address filtering Each network card or interface has a globally unique address called a MAC address. You can configure your router to allow connections which originate from the MAC addresses of your computer equipment. It's not easy to find MAC addresses of all your equipment. The best way to get them is to connect all your equipment to the router while MAC address filtering is disabled. When you do so, you will see all your equipment listed in your router's administration interface along with their MAC addresses. Print the page for your reference. Then enable MAC address filtering and enter the MAC addresses from the printed page. All these settings are accessible from your router's administration interface which you can go to by typing your router's IP address in your browser. Check your router's manual for its IP address. Conclusion As you can see, securing a wireless network is not very difficult. Yet, most people don't bother with it and end up exposing their networks to online threats. Don't let it happen to your network. "

http://www.pcmech.com/article/how-to-secure-wireless-networks/

7/5/2007 5:09:24 PM

WEP + MAC filtering + disable SSID Broadcast is more than enough for the average user in any apartment or townhome complex. no serious hacker that can by-pass that is going to care and/or try to hack a nobodies network.

7/5/2007 5:12:57 PM

WEP < WPA < just don't connect period.

7/5/2007 5:20:32 PM

shouldn't it be WPA + MAC filtering + disable SSID

7/5/2007 5:20:56 PM

I'm just saying...you guys really have nothing hack worthy on your networks.

7/5/2007 5:24:16 PM

well, that's not exactly for you to say, but I don't see any reason not to use WPA, when it's just as easy to enable on any wireless router as WEP is....

7/5/2007 5:43:54 PM

its for common sense to say. If you have sensitive material your work place will require you to have certain security protocals before they even let you remote in from a home network. If you are hiding gigs and gigs of pirated material...then you are probably smart enough to secure your network

7/5/2007 5:49:25 PM

If a "hacker" can identify a machine that is connected to your wireless network (i.e. he sees you on your laptop and so runs a packet sniffer on his from nearby), it is not a challenge at all to obtain your MAC address (which can then be used to defeat MAC filtering) and your SSID (if it's not being broadcast).

Prepackaged WEP cracking software exists that can crack a WEP key in seconds or minutes. All 3 schemes can be bypassed without any "hacking" at all.

None of those options offer anywhere near the protection offered by WPA or WPA2.

[Edited on July 5, 2007 at 6:24 PM. Reason : ]

7/5/2007 6:23:21 PM

i'm not arguing wep vs wpa. I'm just saying we don't have anything of value on our networks.

7/5/2007 6:24:34 PM

ok.... so you're saying that anybody who doesn't have sensitive work-related files or gigs of pirated movies and music won't have anything else on any of their computers or their internal network worth anything to anyone from the outside? Or at the least, even just files they would prefer to keep private?
You don't keep any tax data, Money files, password databases on your computers? perhaps any pictures you'd rather not anybody else see?

I think I agree with your overall point that Yes, you generally don't have to worry about your shit if you're on a WEP or WPA or even an unsecured network. The threat of identity theft or "crazy hackers" turning computer into a zombie, stealing all your files, then erasing all your data, is way overblown - people watching too much 60 Minutes and 20/20. For the most part, nobody gives a shit about your data or your network, and (depending on where you live), you could just leave all your data sitting out in the open and nobody would mess with it.

but nonetheless, if you're going to go to the trouble of setting up a wireless network and you want to be able to freely trade files between computers inside the network, then you might as well secure it. And as long as you're securing it, you might as well choose WPA over WEP. I mean, name me one compelling reason to choose WEP over WPA, if they're both available and supported by your router and all your computers?

[Edited on July 5, 2007 at 6:30 PM. Reason : .]

7/5/2007 6:29:11 PM

Quote :

"ok.... so you're saying that anybody who doesn't have sensitive work-related files or gigs of pirated movies and music won't have anything else on any of their computers or their internal network worth anything to anyone from the outside? Or at the least, even just files they would prefer to keep private? You don't keep any tax data, Money files, password databases on your computers? perhaps any pictures you'd rather not anybody else see?"

i agree...all i am saying is some kind of security be it WEP or WPA or just mac filtering is sufficient for the average user.

7/5/2007 6:36:15 PM

Quote :

"If a "hacker" can identify a machine that is connected to your wireless network (i.e. he sees you on your laptop and so runs a packet sniffer on his from nearby), it is not a challenge at all to obtain your MAC address (which can then be used to defeat MAC filtering) and your SSID (if it's not being broadcast). Prepackaged WEP cracking software exists that can crack a WEP key in seconds or minutes. All 3 schemes can be bypassed without any "hacking" at all."

Actually, what you describe is the textbook definition of hacking. you could argue that for 1337 hax0rs like you its pretty basic, but it is hacking.

Quote :

"I'm just saying we don't have anything of value on our networks."

Haha, 20K+ users on tww and you know the contents of all our hard drives? Nearly all users have enough info on their computers to steal their identity, which is of value to all kinds of 1337 hax0rs. Not to mention intellectual property, and work crap that people aren't supposed to have on their computers, or actual work laptops brought home full of data etc. In fact I would argue that regualr Tech Talk users have more valuable data on their home computers than the average home pc.

7/5/2007 6:55:32 PM

http://www.wirelessdefence.org/Contents/Wireless%20Pen%20Test%20Framework.html

7/5/2007 6:56:31 PM

^ whats the "Deauth Client" step in that diagram? So the best way to crack WPA is dictionary/brute force? this is where 20 character passphrases come in handy huh?

7/5/2007 7:01:43 PM

"Deauth Client" means cause the client to become disconnected from the network and have to reconnect (this can be done by sending bogus network traffic)

7/5/2007 7:14:32 PM

mac filtering and disabling broadcasting of ssid doesn't do much.

7/5/2007 8:59:52 PM

deauth and then get the client to associate with your rogue AP while you pretend to be legit

7/5/2007 9:26:35 PM

here is a larger version
http://www.wirelessdefence.org/Contents/Wireless%20Pen%20Test%20Framework_001.html

7/5/2007 9:28:13 PM

nothing compares to a good passphrase/password that's not in the dictionary (for WPA)

chances are even if they are a good hacker and can get their foot in the door, they can't fully get it in unless they get lucky with a dictionary/brute force attack

[Edited on July 5, 2007 at 10:08 PM. Reason : .]

7/5/2007 10:06:59 PM

I leave my shit wide open.

I let upper layer protocols handle security.

7/6/2007 6:19:50 AM

802.1x

7/7/2007 3:06:21 AM

I always get people to use a sentence or a previous address for the WPA password. Dictionary attacks are useless and WPA cracking is near impossible when you use a long passphrase.

7/7/2007 5:22:23 PM