Why is it necessary to secure your wireless network?
Anybody within
range can hijack your network and
a. Surf the web on your dime which will:
i.
Slow down your
internet speed
ii. Make you liable for downloaded content
(Child
pornography, illegal music, illegal video)
b.
Possibly
have access to your personal information
c.
Help a spammer
solicit their information
d. Allow hackers to use your PC to host pornographic site
Note to all new or existing FIOS users make sure that your wireless security is all that it should be. I have seen that standard installation is only set to WEP encryption which can be hacked by an algorithm downloaded from the web. Your encryption should be set to a WPA (TKIP or AES).
WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy, use WEP 64- or 128-bit data encryption
WPA-PSK [TKIP] - Wi-Fi Protected Access with Pre-Shared Key, use WPA-PSK standard encryption with TKIP encryption type
WPA2-PSK [AES] - Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2 with Pre-Shared Key, use WPA2-PSK standard encryption with the AES encryption type