NIST Issues Security Guidance on Wireless Local Area Networks

6 Tips to Secure WLANs

Wireless Local Area Networks often have weaker configurations and authentication processes that make them vulnerable for attackers to penetrate and gain access to sensitive information, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. New guidance from NIST is aimed at helping organizations meet security challenges.

NIST has released Special Publication 800-153, Guidelines for Securing Local Area Networks, that provides step-by-step recommendations from initiation to maintenance to disposal on securing WLANs. WLANs are wireless network devices within a limited geographic area, such as an office building, that exchange data through radio communications.

"Employees can use mobile devices, including laptops and smart phones, connected to the WLAN to perform tasks that could be done on desktops, but with the freedom to work anywhere in the covered area," NIST says in announcing the guidance.

While WLANs can improve productivity, they can add an additional security challenge. WLANs often have weaker configurations and authentication processes that make them vulnerable for attackers to penetrate and gain access to sensitive information.

NIST says WLAN security depends upon how well all of its components, including client devices and wireless switches, are secured. The new guide provides recommendations to improve security on such topics as standardizing WLAN security configurations, including configuration design, implementation, evaluation and maintenance.

The guide also furnishes guidelines concerning the selection of monitoring tools and the frequency of security monitoring. According to the guidance, organizations should:

1. Have standardized security configurations for common WLAN components, such as client devices and access points.
   
   
2. Consider the security not only of the WLAN itself, but also how it may affect the security of other networks when planning WLAN security.
   
   
3. Have policies that clearly state which forms of dual connections are permitted or prohibited for WLAN client devices, and enforce these policies through the appropriate security controls.
   
   
4. Ensure that the organization's WLAN client devices and APs have configurations at all times that are compliant with the organization's WLAN policies.
   
   
5. Perform both attack monitoring and vulnerability monitoring to support WLAN security.
   
   
6. Conduct regular periodic technical security assessments for the organization's WLANs.

SP 800-153 supplements other NIST publications on WLAN security and points readers to other NIST publications on system planning, development and security activities. NIST said recommendations included in SP 800-153 are applicable to the protection of unclassified wireless networks and of unclassified facilities that are within range of unclassified wireless networks.

20 critical controls for effective cyber defence

Baseline of high-priority information security measures and controls

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure is participating in an international government-industry effort to promote the top twenty critical controls for computer and network security. The development of these controls is being coordinated by the SANS Institute.

The Top Twenty Critical Security Controls are a baseline of high-priority information security measures and controls that can be applied across an organisation in order to improve its cyber defence. The controls (and sub-controls) focus on various technical measures and activities, with the primary goal of helping organisations prioritise their efforts to defend against the current most common and damaging computer and network attacks.

The controls (and sub-controls) focus on various technical measures and activities, with the primary goal of helping organisations prioritise their efforts to defend against the current most common and damaging computer and network attacks.

Outside of the technical realm, a comprehensive security program should also take into account many other areas of security, including overall policy, organisational structure, personnel issues and physical security. To help maintain focus, the twenty controls do not deal with these important but non-technical aspects of information security.

The twenty controls and supporting advice are dynamic in order that they recognise changing technology and methods of attack. All twenty controls, together with a brief description, are given below. For further information, visit the SANS website.

CONTROL 1 - INVENTORY OF AUTHORISED AND UNAUTHORISED DEVICES

Reduce the ability of attackers to find and exploit unauthorised and unprotected systems. Use active monitoring and configuration management to maintain an up-to-date inventory of devices connected to the enterprise network, including servers, workstations, laptops, mobile, and remote devices.

CONTROL 2 - INVENTORY OF AUTHORISED AND UNAUTHORISED SOFTWARE

Identify vulnerable or malicious software to mitigate or root out attacks. Devise a list of authorised software for each type of system, and deploy tools to track software installed (including type, version, and patches) and monitor for unauthorised or unnecessary software.

CONTROL 3 - SECURE CONFIGURATIONS FOR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ON LAPTOPS, WORKSTATIONS, AND SERVERS

Prevent attackers from exploiting services and settings that allow easy access through networks and browsers. Build a secure image that is used for all new systems deployed to the enterprise, host these standard images on secure storage servers, regularly validate and update these configurations, and track system images in a configuration management system.

CONTROL 4 - CONTINUOUS VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION

Proactively identify and repair software vulnerabilities reported by security researchers or vendors. Regularly run automated vulnerability scanning tools against all systems and quickly remediate any vulnerabilities - with critical problems fixed within 48 hours.

CONTROL 5 - MALWARE DEFENCES

Block malicious code from tampering with system settings or contents, capturing sensitive data, or spreading. Use automated anti-virus and anti-spyware software to continuously monitor and protect workstations, servers, and mobile devices. Automatically update such anti-malware tools on all machines on a daily basis. Prevent systems from using auto-run programs to access removable media.

CONTROL 6 - APPLICATION SOFTWARE SECURITY

Scan for, discover, and remediate vulnerabilities in web-based and other application software. Carefully test internally developed and third-party application software for security flaws, including coding errors and malware. Deploy web application firewalls that inspect all traffic, and explicitly check for errors in all user input (including by size and data type).

CONTROL 7 - WIRELESS DEVICE CONTROL

Protect the security perimeter against unauthorised wireless access. Allow wireless devices to connect to the network only if they match an authorised configuration and security profile and have a documented owner and defined business need. Ensure that all wireless access points are manageable using enterprise management tools. Configure scanning tools to detect wireless access points.

CONTROL 8 - DATA RECOVERY CAPABILITY

Minimise the damage from an attack: Implement a trustworthy plan for removing all traces of an attack. Automatically back up all information required to fully restore each system, including the operating system, application software, and data. Back up all systems at least weekly; back up sensitive systems more often. Regularly test the restoration process.

CONTROL 9 - SECURITY SKILLS ASSESSMENT AND APPROPRIATE TRAINING TO FILL GAPS
Find knowledge gaps, and fill them with exercises and training. Develop a Security Skills Assessment program, map training against the skills required for each job, and use the results to allocate resources effectively to improve security practices.

CONTROL 10 - SECURE CONFIGURATIONS FOR NETWORK DEVICES SUCH AS FIREWALLS, ROUTERS, AND SWITCHES

Preclude electronic holes from forming at connection points with the Internet, other organisations, and internal network segments: Compare firewall, router, and switch configurations against standards for each type of network device. Ensure that any deviations from the standard configurations are documented and approved and that any temporary deviations are undone when the business need abates.

CONTROL 11 - LIMITATION AND CONTROL OF NETWORK PORTS, PROTOCOLS, AND SERVICES

Allow remote access only to legitimate users and services. Apply host-based firewalls and port-filtering and scanning tools to block traffic that is not explicitly allowed. Properly configure web servers, mail servers, file and print services, and domain name system (DNS) servers to limit remote access. Disable automatic installation of unnecessary software components. Move servers inside the firewall unless remote access is required for business purposes.

CONTROL 12 - CONTROLLED USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVILEGES

Protect and validate administrative accounts on desktops, laptops, and servers to prevent two common types of attack: (1) enticing users to open a malicious e-mail, attachment, or file, or to visit a malicious website; and (2) cracking an administrative password and thereby gaining access to a target machine. Use robust passwords that follow known standards.

CONTROL 13 - BOUNDARY DEFENCE

Control the flow of traffic through network borders, and police content by looking for attacks and evidence of compromised machines. Establish multilayered boundary defences by relying on firewalls, proxies, demilitarised zone (DMZ) perimeter networks, and other network-based tools. Filter inbound and outbound traffic, including through business partner networks (“extranets”).

CONTROL 14 - MAINTENANCE, MONITORING, AND ANALYSIS OF SECURITY AUDIT LOGS

Use detailed logs to identify and uncover the details of an attack, including the location, malicious software deployed, and activity on victim machines. Generate standardised logs for each hardware device and the software installed on it, including date, time stamp, source addresses, destination addresses, and other information about each packet and/or transaction. Store logs on dedicated servers, and run biweekly reports to identify and document anomalies.

CONTROL 15 - CONTROLLED ACCESS BASED ON THE NEED TO KNOW

Prevent attackers from gaining access to highly sensitive data. Carefully identify and separate critical data from information that is readily available to internal network users. Establish a multilevel data classification scheme based on the impact of any data exposure, and ensure that only authenticated users have access to non-public data and files.

CONTROL 16 - ACCOUNT MONITORING AND CONTROL

Prevent attackers from impersonating legitimate users. Review all system accounts and disable any that are not associated with a business process and owner. Immediately revoke system access for terminated employees or contractors. Disable dormant accounts and encrypt and isolate any files associated with such accounts. Use robust passwords that follow known standards.

CONTROL 17 - DATA LOSS PREVENTION

Stop unauthorised transfer of sensitive data through network attacks and physical theft. Scrutinise the movement of data across network boundaries, both electronically and physically, to minimise the exposure to attackers. Monitor people, processes, and systems, using a centralised management framework.

CONTROL 18 - INCIDENT RESPONSE CAPABILITY

Protect the organisation’s reputation, as well as its information. Develop an incident response plan with clearly delineated roles and responsibilities for quickly discovering an attack and then effectively containing the damage, eradicating the attacker’s presence, and restoring the integrity of the network and systems.

CONTROL 19 - SECURE NETWORK ENGINEERING

Keep poor network design from enabling attackers. Use a robust, secure network engineering process to prevent security controls from being circumvented. Deploy network architecture with at least three tiers: DMZ, middleware, private network. Allow rapid deployment of new access controls to quickly deflect attacks.

CONTROL 20 - PENETRATION TESTS AND RED TEAM EXERCISES

Use simulated attacks to improve organisational readiness. Conduct regular internal and external penetration tests that mimic an attack to identify vulnerabilities and gauge the potential damage. Use periodic red team exercises—all out attempts to gain access to critical data and systems— to test existing defences and response capabilities.

Prioritisation of the critical controls:

The twenty controls are a baseline of high-priority ‘technical’ information security measures and controls that can be applied across an organisation to improve its cyber defence. In order for a control to be a high priority, it must provide a direct defence against attacks.

Controls that mitigate known attacks, or a wide variety of attacks, or attacks early in the compromise cycle, all have priority over other controls. Controls that mitigate the impact of a successful attack also have a high priority. Special consideration is given to controls that help mitigate attacks that have not yet been discovered.

Overview of ZigBee Home Automation and Smart Energy Profiles

Security is a key concern for Zigbee

Ember training curriculum video about Home Automation (HA) and Smart Energy (SE) application profiles.

Explains the basic intentions of these profiles and covers (for each profile):

Logical Security offering 10 Free On-Line Videos

Discussing Security Topics Now Available!

Logical Security is providing free videos that discuss various security topics. Some of these topics are: Block Ciphers, Digital Certificates, ITIL Problem Management, and Wireless Security.

The videos can be found at http://www.logicalsecurity.com/resources/resources_videos.html

Android app can 'hack' Facebook and Twitter account

FaceNiff enables an Android smartphone to detect unsecured Facebook or Twitter login

Facebook and Twitter users face a new security headache from an Android app that allows anyone to hack social media accounts at public WiFi spots.

The developer of the FaceNiff app mentioned on their website that the app is for educational purposes only, and urges users not to install it if it is illegal in their country.

FaceNiff enables an Android smartphone to detect any unsecured Facebook or Twitter login made on the same WiFi network by a desktop or laptop using a standard web browser.



The app is a major security risk as it allows hackers access to a user's private contact details and those of all their friends. Using the app, it would be possible for hackers to collect personal information needed for identity theft simply while having coffee at an internet cafe.

FaceNiff needs to be side loaded onto an Android device that allows root or superuser access to the device. While some users would not be capable of configuring "root user" access on their Android phones, many would, and a list of compatible phones is listed on the developer's website.

The developer claims the app works not only on open networks, but WiFi networks secured by WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK network protocols.

The developer's website states the app can be used to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Amazon, and Nasza-Klasa -- a Polish version of Facebook with "new coming soon".

FaceNiff however is understood not to work if social media is accessed with https secure protocol.

Facebook and Twitter by default do not automatically use https browsing and users have to activate it.

Security is common sense and everyone should practice good security protocols

Wardriving police: password protect your wireless, or face a fine

Internet users in Germany, whose wireless networks are left password unprotected, can be fined up to 100 euros, according to a recent ruling by Germany’s top criminal court.

The ruling is in response to a musician’s lawsuit against a user whose unprotected wireless network was used for downloading and sharing music over P2P.

Just how realistic is the ruling, from a security perspective? Is a weak password protected wireless network, any different than the one with no password security at all?

Three years later, Mumbai’s police started implementing the practice, in response to the abuse of insecure wireless networks by Indian militants:

Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police K Venktesan told Business Standard: “If the Wi-Fi connection in a particular place is not password protected or secured then the policemen accompanying the squad will have the authority to issue a notice to the owner of the connection directing him to secure it.”The police could issue a notice under section 149 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to anyone found not securing their Wi-Fi connection and user may face criminal investigations.

Again in 2009, the Australian police also planned similar wardriving sessions:

The Queensland Police plans to conduct a ‘wardriving’ mission around select Queensland towns in an effort to educate its citizens to secure their wireless networks. When unsecured networks are found, the Queensland Police will pay a friendly visit to the household or small business, informing them of the risks they are exposing themselves to.

Although the problem with insecure wireless networks is often greatly underestimated, the big picture has to do with the fact that, when there are hundreds of thousands of password-unprotected wireless networks, this well known fact allows malicious attackers to efficiently propagate wireless malware. Related studies done on the subject, prove just how easy it is to execute such a malware campaign.

Refer here to read more details.

New computer security threat for wireless networks

Danger in the internet café?

University of Calgary (UC) computer science professors John Aycock and Mea Wang have identified a type of computer security threat, called Typhoid adware, that gains access to computers through wireless networks found in Internet cafes or other areas where users share non-encrypted wireless connections.

"We're looking at a different variant of adware--Typhoid adware--which we haven't seen out there yet, but we believe could be a threat soon," Aycock says. Typhoid adware comes from another person's computer and convinces other laptops to communicate with it and not the legitimate access point. Then the Typhoid adware automatically inserts advertisements in videos and Web pages on the other computers.

Aycock and Wang developed several defenses against Typhoid adware. One solution protects the content of videos to ensure that what users see comes directly from the original source, and another solution offers a way to "tell" laptops they are in an Internet cafe to make them more suspicious of contact from other computers.

Please refer here to read more details.

What if someone hacked into medical system and sent his blood sugar levels plummeting?

Scientists Work to Keep Hackers Out of Implanted Medical Devices

Researchers are developing ways to prevent hackers from accessing and remotely controlling medical devices that emit wireless signals. For example, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Nathanael Paul is designing a more secure insulin pump that cuts some of the wireless connections between parts of the system. Other researchers are looking for security solutions for pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators.

Some researchers have suggested protecting the devices with passwords, but doctors and nurses would have to be able to control the devices in the case of an emergency. "If you have a patient that's unconscious on the ground, you really don't want the medical staff to have to figure out what security system they're using," said University of Washington's Tamara Denning at the recent CHI 2010 conference.

The passwords could be tattooed in the form of a barcode on the patient's skin, either with visible ink or ink that can only be seen under ultraviolet light, Denning said. Security issues for medical devices will increase when these devices are connected to phones, the Internet, and other computers, notes University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Kevin Fu.

Refer here to read more details.

New Attack Cracks Common Wi-Fi Encryption in a Minute

Reason to dump WPA with TKIP and start using with AES encryption..

Hiroshima University's Toshihiro Ohigashi and Kobe University's Masakatu Morii say they have developed a way to break the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute.

Last November, researchers demonstrated how WPA could be broken, but the Japanese researchers have taken the attack to a new level. The first attack worked on a smaller range of WPA devices and required between 12 and 15 minutes to execute. Both attacks work only on WPA systems that use the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) algorithm, and neither work on newer WPA 2 devices or WPA systems that use the more secure Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm. Wi-Fi Alliance's Kelly Davis-Felner says WPA with TKIP was developed as a type of interim encryption method when Wi-Fi was first evolving, and Wi-Fi-certified products have had to support WPA 2 since March 2006.

There's certainly a decent amount of WPA with TKIP out in the installed base today, but a better alternative has been out for a long time. Most enterprise Wi-Fi networks feature security software that would detect the man-in-the-middle attack but the development of a practical attack against WPA should give people a reason to dump WPA with TKIP and start using AES.

Refer here to read full details.

PCWorld published 9 best web sites for locating people

9 Sites That Find People and Their 'Sensitive' Information

At one time or another, you might need to get the goods on a stranger, like a prospective nanny or a business contact. Public records and people-finder sites are often the place to look; we list the best ones here. These sites use cool, Web 2.0 techniques to help you locate people, then (if need be) dig deep to find the "sensitive" intel about them you need

Refer here to read full details on PCworld.

Hackers Use Nvidia Graphics Card to Smash WPA2 10,000 Percent Faster

WiFi is no longer a viable secure connection

Global Secure Systems has said that a Russian's firm's use of the latest NVidia graphics cards to accelerate WiFi ‘password recovery' times by up to an astonishing 10,000 per cent proves that WiFi's WPA and WPA2 encryption systems are no longer enough to protect wireless data.

David Hobson, managing director of GSS, claimed that companies can no longer view standards-based WiFi transmission as sufficiently secure against eavesdropping to be used with impunity. He also said that the use of VPNs is arguably now mandatory for companies wanting to comply with the Data Protection Act.

He said: “This breakthrough in brute force decryption of WiFi signals by Elcomsoft confirms our observations that firms can no longer rely on standards-based security to protect their data. As a result, we now advise clients using WiFi in their offices to move on up to a VPN encryption system as well.

Please refer here to read full article.

WPA and WPA2 is the secure method after WEP which is commonly used by home users and perhaps many small-to-large size companies. This basically means, all wireless users using WPA and WPA2 are at risk and we should start looking at more secure wireless methods before we get victim of these types of attacks.

VoIP eavesdropping made easy

UCSniff

A security consultant with expertise in protecting phone conversations as they travel over the internet has unveiled a new tool that demonstrates just how vulnerable voice over internet protocol, or VoIP, calls are to interception.

UCSniff bundles a hodgepodge of previously available open-source applications into a single software package that helps penetration testers assess the security of VoIP calls carried over a client's network. It also introduces several new features that make eavesdropping on specific targets a point-and-click undertaking.

UCSniff runs on a laptop that can be plugged in to the ethernet port of the organization being probed. From there, a VLAN hopper automatically traverses the virtual local area network until it accesses the part that carries VoIP calls. Once the tool has gained unauthorized access, UCSniff automatically injects spoofed ARP, or address resolution protocol, packets into the network, allowing all voice traffic to be routed to the laptop.

UCSniff streamlines eavesdropping by allowing an attacker to zero in on the conversations of particular users. Targets can be selected by extension number or dial-by-name features, making it easy to listen to all calls made by a specific individual - such as an organization's CEO. Eavesdropping can be further fine-tuned by listening only to calls the CEO makes to a specific person - such as a chief financial officer.

Refer here to read full details.

Secure your Wifi Network Security

Wifi Networks Unsecured - Act now or regret later!

I have blogged heaps of time such as "Zlob" trojan OR DNSChanger - Same thing, DNSChanger Hack, Wireless Security, Welcome To Untrusted Computing, Wireless Security Settings and many other posts on Wireless Security but people don’t seem to seriously care about Wi-Fi security impact yet. Inspite of often repeated posts, warnings and security news people are still not thinking about it. What they fail to understand is that by doing so, they can become unwitting accessory to cyber crime.

Instead of scouring for anonymous proxies to stay faceless on the internet, cyber criminals are increasingly targeting unsecured Wi-FI networks to get the job done. A combination of war driving tools such as NetStumbler along with a listing of default router usernames and passwords is all it takes to freely connect to unsecured Wi-FI networks. Especially since most Wi-Fi routers use default security settings that come pre-installed by the vendor rather than it having being configured by the end user.

SOHO routers log every connection and DHCP lease but these logs are flushed once the router is rebooted. If an attacker has access to the administrative console of the router (thanks to the default password), once their nefarious actives have been carried out, a simple restart of the router will erase all tracks.

The extent to which an unsecured Wi-Fi connection can be abused is purely left to imagination of the attacker. Putting on my Dr.Evil hat, here are couple of wicked acts a Wi-Fi hacker could commit and get away undetected using an unsecured network.

• Download child pornography
• Download copyrighted movies and music via P2P
• Download Warez and abuse your bandwidth
• Send bomb hoaxes, terror or threatening emails.
• Send spam (sexual aids, pharmacy or money laundering scams)

Any of the above acts could lead to law enforcement authorities knocking on your door. This is not mere speculation and many unsuspecting people have fallen victim. To quote a high profile example, in the recent serial bomb blasts in India, terror emails that took responsibility for the blasts were sent from unsecured Wi-Fi connections. And it was the unfortunate owners of the unsecured Wi-Fi connection that were subjected to police questioning and house arrest.

In addition to using an unsecured Wi-Fi network for malicious purposes, an attacker can also use it to steal personal information for identity theft. For example:

• Infiltrate and break into internal machines
• Modify DNS settings on the router to point to a rouge server.
• Sniff Wi-Fi traffic for usernames and passwords

The above discussed scenarios are neither speculation nor an exhaustive listing of different ways for abusing unsecured Wi-Fi networks. These scenarios are being enacted by criminals everyday around the world.

Now why would want to be an unwitting host to criminal activities emanating from your IP address or make yourself vulnerable to identity theft? Be a responsible Netizen and please secure your Wi-Fi connection now!

Wireless Security

Home Wireless Security Settings Tips

ENABLE WIRELESS ENCRYPTION:

Enabling Wireless encryption is essential otherwise every one within your Radio Frequency (RF) range (and remember the Wireless network world record distance is 125 miles!), at best can capture your traffic compromising surfing habits, gathering usernames and passwords and at worst sharing illegal images or hacking over your Wireless network for which you are legally responsible.

DO NOT USE WEP (WEP is trivially broken)

DO NOT USE A DICTIONARY BASED WORD FOR YOUR WPA/WPA2 PSK

DO USE WPA2 (BEST) or WPA (NEXT BEST) WITH A NON-DICTIONARY PSK

Note: Use AES encryption where you can, it's the strongest available.

DISABLE SSID BROADCAST:

Ensure you disable the SSID broadcast on you Access Point this will hide your Wireless access point from casual WARDRIVERS. While it is still trivial for a proficient WARDRIVER to determine the SSID it makes him/her work that little bit harder and there may be easier targets in the neighbourhood.

ENABLE MAC FILTERING:

Ensure you configure your MAC filters, this will tie your access point down to only those devices with the MAC addresses you specify.

CONS: MAC addresses can be spoofed fairly trivially in both Windows and Linux.

UPDATE FIRMWARE:

It is essential to keep you Access Points firmware up to date. Vulnerabilities are discovered daily and it could just happen that your Access Point is compromised through a newly discovered exploit this is not restricted to Wireless attacks and may even occur via a wired interface

ENABLE SECURITY FEATURES:

While this may seem obvious ensure all of you Access Points security features have been enabled, many Access Points security settings default to non-enabled for functionality purposes.

CHANGE DEFAULT PASSWORD:

The default password for your Access Point should be changed at the earliest opportunity, to a strong non-dictionary based word to ensure no attackers are able to reconfigure settings.

ENABLE HTTPS :

Management of the access point should be carried out via HTTPS (which is encrypted) in preference to HTTP (which passes traffic in clear text) to prevent your Access Point management username and password from being compromised.

LOGGING:

Ensure that logging is enabled (it is too often disabled by default) on your Access Point and check those logs regularly. Logs will hopefully give you an indication of whether or not you have an unwelcome visitor.

PARANOID?

I believe that the 7 settings already discussed (if carried out as described) will make your Access Point more than reasonably secure. For the truly paranoid (and we count ourselves among them) however, we have 2 more.

DISABLE THE DHCP SERVER:

Rather than have the Access Point's DHCP server issue wireless clients (which could include a wireless attacker) with all the configuration necessary to join the network (and thus the Internet) we prefer to statically configure these settings on the client. We also prefer to use a IP range that is not easily guessed (i.e. not 192.168.0.X or 192.168.1.X etc.) whist still in the private address range.

POWER OFF WHEN NOT IN USE:

If you're going away for the weekend or on holiday, turn off that Access Point. If its not active, it's not going to be compromised.

Disabling wireless client machines when not is use is equally important. For example an Access Point with no clients can make discovering a hidden SSID truly challenging.

The images displayed are taken from a Linksys WRT54G Wireless Access point and are included as a rough guide as to the settings discussed.

Wireless Security Settings

Essential Wireless Security - We all should know...

I was reading blog of Steve Lamb and would like to mention his latest blog post about Wireless Security. I would recommend that all the users who have wireless router and doesn't know much about security go through his post. I have posted below few of his videos which are worth watching to learn more about wireless security settings.

How to secure a wireless network: Part 1 of 5 - Enabling WPA on a wireless router

How to secure a wireless network: Part 2 of 5 - How to change the SSID

How to secure a wireless network: Part 3 of 5 - Reconfiguring a Vista client to connect to your WPA secured access point

How to secure a wireless network: Part 4 of 5 Connect using WPA for the first time on Windows Vista

How to secure a wireless network: Part 5 of 5 - Connecting using WPA for the first time on XP

There's an additional blogcast that you may find interesting too titled How to secure a wireless network: How to view the advanced wireless interface on Windows Vista