Risks and Rewards of Wireless Internet: Protect Yourself and Enjoy!

Isn’t the internet great? 
You can use it at home, work and at almost any coffee shop or airport. 
Find out what you need to know to safely surf wireless.

• Why use wireless?  10 years ago, the infrastructure wasn’t available
• Freedom to work anywhere – Huge for people in sales, news industry, technical support
• It’s easy, fast, convinent
• How do most people use wireless?
• What are they doing wirelessly?
• How your data is at risk by using email on public wireless
• Web based email like Gmail is safer than using an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird
• The benefits of using SSL for your email
• Website designers are at risk using FTP to transfer files
• What is a firewall? (It’s like a locked door) Firewalls block ports on your computer
• Computer that use public wireless should have a a software firewall
• What is a VPN? (It’s like a bodyguard) VPN’s keep your data protected
• Remote access is one way to reduce your risk
• The risks of not securing your wireless at home
• If something is yours and you don’t want someone to take it, lock it up
• Get your own router to serve up your wireless, not the one you get from your Internet provider
• Wireles Routers include the Linksys WRT54GL and the Apple Airport Express
• You can flash your router to add more features
• Your options for wireless encryption include Open, WEP, WPA
• Create a strong passphrase
• Change your router password from the default
• Why PDA’s are safer than laptops
• What is “tethering” between cell phones and laptops?
• Sprint wireless cards (about $50/month and 2 year contract)
• Most mobile data plans are about $20/month for unlimited
• Types of wireless attacks – Fake Sign-in sites, Evil Twin”, File theft, Keystroke logger

  Thanks to my show sponsor Zendesk!

Chat Questions

“What operating systems are vulnerable?”  Windows and Mac OSX are vulnerable to wireless insecurity

 “What do you do with your router”  I flash my routers with DD-WRT to get features like QOS, bandwidth throttling, individual port control, VLan creating, detailed statistics on traffic, wireles bridging

“What do you think of tethering phones?”

“Did you watch the video about the Palm Pre?”

“What about banking on a smartphone?”

“Have you ever been hacked Adria?”

Resources

Step-by-step instructions to setup WPA  Linksys |  Apple Airport Express (GetNetWise)

Article I wrote – 5 Essential Steps to Secure Your Wireless (Aden Networks Business Blog)

Article – The Idiot-Proof Way To Securely Use Public Wi-Fi (Consumerist)

Article – Guilty Plea in Kinko’s Keystroke Caper (SecurityFocus)

 Article – Hacking Airport Wi-Fi (Forbes)

Free remote access – Logmein

Sofware to flash your Linksys Router – DD-WRT

Do you use wireless while traveling? Find out how hotels and airports put your data at risk. Learn how to secure your wireless connection - Why WPA is the best encryption available, how VPN's can protect your work data, antivirus vs firewalls and much more!