Computer Network Security Threats That You Should Know

Computer Network Security Threats That You Should Know

Aside from hacking, there are still other computer network security threats that you should be aware of and one of which is the denial of service attack or commonly known as DoS attack.

In today's world, a lot of us rely on automation and with the technology it is not impossible for us to do certain things with the help of computers. But then again, there are threats – threats that are also "automated".

Denial of service attack is a type of attack to the service which can down the system for a specific duration of time. The perpetrator is sending multiple requests to the server until such time that the server can no longer cater the requests of the perpetrator causing the system to shut itself down. The result, server down and no one else can access the service.

One example of this is a website wherein the perpetrator sends page request to the server in such an overwhelming manner causing the server to close.

In order to successfully down a server, the perpetrator still needs a certain number of computers to send requests to server. This is where Distributed Denial of Service attack comes in wherein the perpetrator infects multiple computers so that they may be able to send requests to the server without the consent of the owner of the infected computer. These computers are then called zombies since they are being controlled by the perpetrator to send requests to a particular server.

Now that you know about some of the common network security threats, it is important that you keep your computer free from the viruses which make your computer a "zombie" and prevent the perpetrators on gaining control of your computer without you knowing it.

You can install a reliable antivirus software to help you have protection against such.

 

How To Secure Your Wireless Home Network

How To Secure Your Wireless Home Network
People have more flexible time due to wireless network. Thanks to the invention of wireless. People can now work from home while taking care of their kids or doing house works. No more stress from traffic jam anymore.

Well, there is something you should realize. Working from home while using a wireless local area network (WLAN) may lead to theft of sensitive information and hacker or virus infiltration unless proper measures are taken. As WLANs send information over radio waves, someone with a receiver in your area could be picking up the transmission, thus gaining access to your computer. They could load viruses on to your laptop which could be transferred to the company's network when you go back to work.

Believe it or not! Up to 75 per cent of WLAN users do not have standard security features installed, while 20 per cent are left completely open as default configurations are not secured, but made for the users to have their network up and running ASAP. It is recommended that wireless router/access point setup be always done though a wired client.

You can setup your security by follow these steps:

1. Change default administrative password on wireless router/access point to a secured password.

2. Enable at least 128-bit WEP encryption on both card and access point. Change your WEP keys periodically. If equipment does not support at least 128-bit WEP encryption, consider replacing it. Although there are security issues with WEP, it represents minimum level of security, and it should be enabled.

3. Change the default SSID on your router/access point to a hard to guess name. Setup your computer device to connect to this SSID by default.

4. Setup router/access point not to broadcast the SSID. The same SSID needs to be setup on the client side manually. This feature may not be available on all equipment.

5. Block anonymous Internet requests or pings. On each computer having wireless network card, network connection properties should be configured to allow connection to Access Point Networks Only. Computer to Computer (peer to peer) Connection should not be allowed.

Enable MAC filtering. Deny association to wireless network for unspecified MAC addresses. Mac or Physical addresses are available through your computer device network connection setup and they are physically written on network cards. When adding new wireless cards / computer to the network, their MAC addresses should be registered with the router's access point. Network router should have firewall features enabled and demilitarized zone (DMZ) feature disabled.

All computers should have a properly configured personal firewall in addition to a hardware firewall. You should also update router/access point firmware when new versions become available. Locating router's access point away from strangers is also helpful so they cannot reset the router/access point to default settings. You can even try to locate routers access point in the middle of the building rather than near windows to limit signal coverage outside the building.

There is no guarantee of a full protection of your wireless network, but following these suggested tips can definitely lessen your risk of exposing to attackers aiming at insecure networks.

Are There Any Concerns With Wireless Network Security

Are There Any Concerns With Wireless Network Security

If you are new to wireless networks there are a couple of things you need to be aware of an order to make sure that you have a secure access point. Nowadays most WiFi routers that come out of the box are set up with security already. However, this is not always the case so you may need to configure your router so that it has encryption enabled which was then prevent unauthorized people connecting to your network and possibly using your Internet connection.

There are a number of different types of security measures that you can put in place to ensure that you have encryption enabled, have a secure connection and prevent others from accessing it. There are a couple of standards that you can implement quite easily on your router and they are.

1. SSID
2. WEP
3. Media Access Control (MAC)

We can get caught up in all sorts of acronyms with networks is basically SSID means Service Set Identifier, which is basically just a name used to identify a particular wireless network.

This name can be 32 characters long combining letters or numbers and is basically just an identifier which you can set which in torn allows you to identify your WiFi network when you go to locate. Your access points will transmit this SSID every couple of seconds.

WEP is basically an encryption key that can help encrypt the data between the wireless client and the network access point. It basically creates a shared password (which you can set on your router) . The router transmits a request which is then answered by the wireless client with the password that you create. It may sound complicated but realistically is a very simple process. This is the first level security that you can settle on any WiFi router and it's basically what most people use present.

MAC is another level of security that you can add to your router basically the router can store a table of MAC addresses that are only allowed access in that particular access point.

The MAC address is specific to your WiFi network card in your computer and this can be found in a Microsoft Windows computer in the control phone and networks, and there you can locate the MAC address of the network card. Once you have this you can then enter this in the MAC address security area on your WiFi router. This is the next level of security and show to help to prevent anybody gaining unauthorized access to your network.