Recent news out of Minnesota caught my attention and underscores the need for people to secure wireless networks at home. Barry Ardolf is accused of tapping into his neighbor’s home wireless network and sending a threatening e-mail to Vice President Joe Biden, making it appear to have come from his neighbor. As if that’s not enough, he also is alleged to have sent sexually explicit e-mails to his neighbor’s co-worker; sent child porn to his neighbor’s boss; set up a MySpace page in his neighbor’s name and posted child porn on it; used fake e-mail accounts set up in his neighbor’s name; and stole personal identity information.
Presumably none of us have neighbors like Ardolf, but I assure you many of us have neighbors who wouldn’t hesitate to use your wireless network if you make it easy for them. And default settings on common wireless routers do just that.
Here are five steps you should take to securely configure your home wireless network: Continue reading “Why you need to secure your home wireless network”
