Let's not broadcast ourselves to the world!

So like many people these days I have a wireless home network. Everything from my printer to my families laptops / iPhones can and are connected to it. After doing some research I found that I was sitting right out in the open, a target for anybody who happened to be out wardriving.

War drive? You mean like a food drive right?

Not at all.  Wardriving is when black hatted hackers will drive around neighborhoods and attack unsecured or weak wireless networks people use.  If you still don't follow, watch this news report to get a better idea of the threats out there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3538299n

What have I been doing!?

After watching the news report and all that I've learned, I found that I have left myself completely wide open! I pride myself on being as safe as possible when it comes to my life online, only to find out I left the network I use everyday completely open to anyone who wishes to use it!  So with that being said it's time to make a few changes.

First things first I ditched the Network ID I was using (How touched in the head could I be using my real name as my network name!?).  Good, now that nobody knows my name or what kind of router I have it's time to shut down me broadcasting a signal to the world.

It was literally as simple as clicking a check box.  Done and done!

So after turning off my broadcast signal I decided I wasn't satisfied.  Being as paranoid as I am about my information, I decided to take things a bit further.  Luckily my router has security features to allow only certain wireless cards to connect.

So how safe are you?

Feeling like you might be exposed?  Well after you secure your own network with data encryption, passwords and you make sure you aren't broadcasting to anybody, check to see if someone has a P2P (peer to peer) client on your computer.  Here is a list of the most popular ones.  (From http://security.getnetwise.org/tips/filesharing/about-filesharing)

Windows Programs:

• Aimster
• Audio Galaxy
• Bearshare
• Gnotella
• Gnucleus
• Grokster
• iMesh
• KaZaa
• Limewire
• Morpheus
• SwapNut
• WinMX

Mac Programs:

• Aimster
• Limewire
• Mactella

If so, you are at risk.  P2P services are nothing but breeding grounds for hackers and those who wish to hurt you.  Just get rid of them.  If it is an type of executable, chances are it's going to do some harm.  Hope you found some of this information useful, if so happy computing to you!