Home Wireless Network Security

[tim]

Hi,
I have a home wireless network for my 2 pc's.
the settings are:
- infrastructure only
-wep 64bit
-no IEEE authentication
-G only devices
- WRT54GC linksys Wireless Router
- network authentication is in Shared Mode

Is WEP 64bit good enough generally for most people ? I doubt tthere are any
really good hackers around my area but i would like at least a decent level
of security in case someone tries to get into my network and into my
pc's......
Should i use IEEE authentication? Is a free thawte cert the type to use ??
Which one? I just got the free email cert. Is that the one?
If someone does get into my network,what can they do?Steal files from my
pc's or just use my connection ???

TIA

 

[Mike Fields]

Hi,
I have a home wireless network for my 2 pc's.
the settings are:
- infrastructure only
-wep 64bit
-no IEEE authentication
-G only devices
- WRT54GC linksys Wireless Router
- network authentication is in Shared Mode

Is WEP 64bit good enough generally for most people ? I doubt tthere
are any
really good hackers around my area but i would like at least a decent
level
of security in case someone tries to get into my network and into my
pc's......
Should i use IEEE authentication? Is a free thawte cert the type to
use ??
Which one? I just got the free email cert. Is that the one?
If someone does get into my network,what can they do?Steal files from
my
pc's or just use my connection ???

TIA

I suspect you will get a full range of answers (then
there are the 50+ % that run with no protection,
the default password and SSID etc out there). You
might want to wander over to the newsgroup
microsoft.public.windows.networking.wireless and
see what they have to say there. Good info there.

mikey

 

[Steven L Umbach]

WEP is considered fairly weak by today's standards and can be cracked in a
matter of minutes - particularly 64 bit. Whether they can access files on
your computer depends on if you are using XP Pro or XP Home. If you are
using XP Home or XP Pro with simple file sharing enabled and you have shares
enabled for access by everyone then the attacker can access those shares
also. If you have XP Pro with simple file sharing disabled and access
controlled to shares that requires user authentication then they will not be
able to access the shares without knowing a user password and of course
strong passwords will make that very difficult.

Also keep in mind that any network traffic that is encrypted by SSL [secure
websites such as banks/online ordering] , ipsec. SSH, RDP, etc will also be
protected even if the attacker gets access to your network. If that puts you
at ease I would still change my WEP password regularly because attackers
will use your wireless network for internet access and if they are doing
child porn or terrorist threats that could get traced back to you via your
public IP address. Your device may also have logging ability that can help
show if there is unexpected access. If it was me I would turn off the
wireless router if I was not going to be using the computer for a while if I
could only count on WEP. --- Steve