Internet Security for Wi-Fi Hotspots in Configuring

Internet Security for Wi-Fi Hotspots

In configuring the Wi-Fi router in our home previous to taking this course, the selection of 128-bit encryption was chosen, and keys created to ensure the security of the connection and network from outside use. As our home is in a densely populated neighborhood, our concern was the potential of a drastic reduction in performance given how many people could be on the connection potentially at the same time. In addition our main home PC, which is a desktop, has a network-shared drive for all our pictures, files and important documents. We did this to make it easier for everyone to upload photographs and homework to a centralized disk drive, alleviating the risk of losing it on laptops of iPads. As members of our family are in the technology industry, this was all accomplished fairly easily, in addition to enabling Wi-Fi enabled printers and imaging devices as well.

Analysis

The average computer user needs to be cognizant of just how risky it is to not have a protected Wi-Fi network in their home, and for that matter on their laptop, iPad or iPhone if it has the 5GB Data Plan that enables it to be a Hotspot. AT&T requires the 5GB Data Plan to make an iPhone a Hotspot and with just two selections on a configuration, it can be made available to the entire world as a Wi-Fi location. This could drive the 5GB plan into tens or hundreds of dollars very quickly, in effect creating a very high cost for the owner. Smartphone and tablet PC users need to make sure they have encryption enabled on their phones and devices to avert what could turn into very large bills at the end of the month.

The homeowners that are having their Wi-Fi used in the case need to first define an encryption level that will keep every unwanted guest out of their network, with 128-bit encryption recommended (Potter, 2006). The homeowners could also completely change the configuration to make the signal not visible outside their home as well, by taking the SSID values into a private configuration alone. (Potter, 2006). James was able to find a home that hadn't taken either of these steps. The network wasn't secured at the baseline level and also lacked authentication. It also lacked any file and server-level security settings, which made it possible for James to look at literally anything he wanted on this homeowners' system. There are configuration options for defining the security levels of file sharing services that need to be configured on every home network the majority of homeowners never both to set up (Potter, 2006). This would have alleviated James from being able to find and view the files of banking materials in the first place. The homeowners need to take all of these precautions to guard their digital privacy and the highly sensitive information that is found on their networks. They also need to concentrate on creating a more effective firewall of multiple security layers in their router that will ensure only those with the 128-bit code can access it.