Wireless Routers for Homes; Are they Even Safe to Use?

Many are wondering if wireless routers used in homes are safe to use and if there are any risks if other people use their internet connection. Indeed, wireless routers may offer free internet to some, but because of this fact, some people with dark intentions in mind can exploit this opportunity.

Hijacking Connection

Computer forensics say that someone can use your wireless internet connection to attack other computer networks. Hackers would prefer to use others internet connection, instead of theirs when they attack a particular target. Although hackers can mask their connection, details and location, it is much safer for them to use other’s internet connection. That way, the hacker will not be blamed for the attack he made, thus making him anonymous.

Attack the Computer and the Network

Despite the fact that there are new types of computers and operating systems, some people are still using ancient computers and operating systems in their homes, much worse, they have no decent protection against virus and malware. These types of computers are the easiest to penetrate. Once these computers are penetrated via the wireless network, hackers can then secretly install a Trojan. It can be used to transmit important information of the target, such as credit car information, banking information and etc. Hackers can use this information for their advantages, unknown to their victims.

The Zombie Computer

If zombies are scary, then a zombie computer would be scarier to digital computer forensics and security experts. The hijacked connection will be used to perform a specific attack at a specific time. A computer turned zombie can be used repeatedly by a hacker, through the installation of software. The software installed can be used to coordinate attacks; if there are more zombies the hacker controls then that could be more dangerous.

Data Storage

There are instances when hackers will need a place to hide the data they have stolen. And what is the most suitable storage place to use? It’s a computer with a wireless connection. The data is masked perfectly that only graduates of a computer forensic course can detect them. The data is hidden well and is not visible to the desktop’s user and the disk space will seem unused. Knowing how this happened will be very troubling.

The Bandwidth

Hackers will even use the bandwidth or connection of the one owning wireless connection to upload or download huge amounts of computer data. These types of files can be in Gigabytes and could lead to additional bills for that person’s internet connection.

Violates Privacy

No person with healthy state of mind would like someone activating their microphone just to listen to the conversations inside the house. Or activate the camera to see what is inside the house. If hackers are planning to hack a company, then hacking the privacy of certain officials would surely help their cause.

How to Protect The System

It is important to protect the wireless system against hackers. First thing to do is to configure the firewall of the operating system, so that there are some levels of protection. It is also possible to purchase firewalls to supplement or replace the current firewall of the system. Although they are hard to configure, there are manuals that would provide a step-by-step guide on how one could configure their firewall.

The second thing to do is to install the latest antivirus software; an antivirus software that has anti-hacking capabilities. It is important to know how to effectively use the software, since there are other things aside from protection anti-virus software can offer. There are many good anti-viruses in the market, such as Kapersky, Norton and others.

Turn off the router or the internet connection when the computer is not used. If there is a need to store important information like details in bank accounts, passwords or any other private information, store it on other secure media or in a secure external drive that will make the data encrypted so that the hacker cannot retrieve it. Sometimes routers will provide security features and encryption, thus it is much better to know how to make use of this. Of course, the hardware will provide manuals that will guide their users on how to activate and configure the security features of the router. It might be confusing at start, but it is worth it.

The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in computer forensics.

More information about EC-Council is available at www.eccouncil.org.

Stopping Breaches with Agile Security

It is very important for the network security to improve so that they can address the rapidly changing environment they are in. Unfortunately, many companies suffered damaging and also embarrassing attacks on their network. It has also dealt a devastating blow to the security industry because it has exposed their technologies, systems, services and procedures, which most people rely on. Nowadays, the traditional in IT security is not enough in protecting the IT network.

The traditional security measures and tools we used to have are made to deal with a slow changing setting. In fact, they weren’t built to deal with the fast changing resources, applications as well as systems that are now too common nowadays. They weren’t built to quickly react against the changing attacks. Computer forensics believes that there are hundreds of millions of new malware in the Web each day and many of these can be seen attempting to breach security systems of companies. These fast evolving threats means that the defense are slowly getting left behind.

As the reality has shown, traditional security tools lose their edge and capabilities to protect the systems quickly. Thus it is important for security to evolve so that they can react to the fast changing environment. It is safe to say that the security must become more mature and agile. Agile security can deliver a much better and effective protection because of the four core elements.

Unlike traditional security that is blind to the changing attacks and environment, agile security can see much better. Because of it, agile security can provide better access to all the unprecedented amount of information; they yield more visibility on the assets of the network, the operating systems, the applications, protocols, users, services, network behavior and also network attacks like viruses and malware.

Since there is visibility, it thus generates data. With data, security can make effective decisions, which requires learning. The learning of security includes the application of data that is generated both locally and from larger communities. Agile security will correlate the events with the knowledge they have gathered, which is an important avenue to understand and make decisions, thus enabling prioritized, informed and automated response.

The only constant thing in the world is change and it also applies in network security. Networks, targets and attacks will change and security must respond to that by changing as well. Agile security can automatically adapt and modify its defenses to provide better protection in the changing environment.

The most important responsibility of security systems is protecting the sensitive data and assets of companies or individuals. Security systems must have policies on allowed applications, prohibited activities and supported devices. Suspicious events must be prioritized and must be reported to security officials like digital computer forensics. Agile security must be flexible in responding to events, risk prioritizing and distributing threat intelligence to deliver the best possible protection and solution.

Agile security’s four important elements, seeing, learning, adapting and acting will deliver a much more effective protection because these elements provides the ability of responding to the continues change in the environment.

Nowadays, if you want to see if the security solutions you have can really adapt to the changing environment in the world, you have to look for these important features or essential functions that are built into the agile security.

Agile security must have defense optimization or the ability to tune their security policies automatically to keep with the changes in their environment. No guesswork, but instead an optimized and ensured protection. Agile security must be able to enforce policy compliance and the ability to lock or support networks; preventing undesirable or unauthorized changes, thus reducing the available vulnerabilities in the system. Last but not the least, agile security must have an open structure, which makes it able to support customization as well as modification in their capabilities, but it has to be done only by experts in security or individuals who have completed computer forensics training.

It is important for organizations to have agile security that has the capabilities to adapt to their environment to ensure better protection for their assets and data. Indeed, traditional defenses have been refined and improved to do well today, but they are still nothing compared to agile security.

The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in computer forensics.

More information about EC-Council is available at www.eccouncil.org.