the constant skeptic

I was driving through my neighborhood today. (Every good story starts out this way…)

A maze of one-way streets and dead-ends. Some sinister looking panel vans and kids outside playing in the streets. A sunny Saturday in North Baltimore, who could complain?

I pulled out my thirty-dollar wifi finder that I purchased at Radio Shack on impulse one day last year because I, like many other consumers, am obsessed with new gadgets.

So anyway, I pulled the device out and pressed the button to see if there were any unsecure wireless networks. The little sleek black gadget is actually pretty neat, it flashes green lights and stays lit if connectivity is found, and it also searches for bluetooth devices as well (Here is a review for one that is like the one I have, but not exactly the same). I found five seperate networks within five minutes of driving around. I was astonished. My wifi home network is secure via WEP so I wasn’t worried about my personel network, but I was more worried about those five others that I found. With some very rudimentary software and hardware, any person with the technical know-how could  pull up close to your house and start viewing files on your hard drive within a matter of minutes.

Obviously, not many people are aware of this fact, or do not care, but think of all the personal information on your computer that you take for granted is safe…. passwords, bank account information, kiddie-porn, whatever…. the point is, if you don’t have a secure wireless network, you might as well be publishing all of that information to the world.

I think the coming battle is going to be a cyber security battle between hacker terrorists versus the powers that be, namely the FBI and homeland security. I really don’t think the new “Live Free Or Die Hard” (awesome video trailer here) movie is that far off of what could happen because of lack of security protocol with regard to information stored virtually, i.e. on hard drives, disks, etc.

Also, for those investors out there, start investing in security firms that provide services for secure and encrypted networks and devices. Basically watch what the government is buying and using and watch the firms that are supplying the software and hardware and invest, the opportunity for growth is astronomical considering the exponential growth of our ability to store information on smaller and smaller devices.

So what is there that can be done to mitigate the risks of your personal information being stolen?

1. Setup a WEP wireless home network (uses a key code to access the network) - FAQ’s here
    WEP is a must for anyone who has a wireless home network, I let McAfee handle mine for me, and its only $70.00 a year

2. Change your passwords often - check out “choosing a pretty good password” from usewisdom.com

3. Consider encrypting your hard-drives - TrueCrypt is a good place to start (it is free and upgradable and what I use)
    this way, if they do get into your computer, they still won’t be able to read your files…

4. Do not leave your personal information in obvious places on your computer.

If you have any additions to this list, please feel free to comment, thanks for reading and watch out, your neighbor could be stealing your wifi.

Technorati Tags: tips, advice, wireless security, wep, security, encryption, truecrypt, personal, information security, constant skeptic