

Not all attackers rely on gaining access to your data via wireless means. For smaller devices, such as phones, be cognizant of your surroundings while viewing sensitive information or entering passwords. Screen protectors that prevent shoulder-surfers from seeing your device screen can be purchased for little money. By simply watching you, they can steal sensitive or personal information.

In public areas malicious actors can simply glance over your shoulder as you type. This will help prevent an unknown attacker from accessing your device’s files. When not needed, ensure that file sharing is disabled. Only allow sharing on recognized home networks and only while it is necessary to share items. Ensure that when you connect your devices to public networks, you deny sharing files and folders. Unauthorized Computer AccessĪn unsecured public wireless network combined with unsecured file sharing could allow a malicious user to access any directories and files you have unintentionally made available for sharing. Ensure that all the access points you connect to use at least WPA2 encryption. Because your connection is being transmitted “in the clear,” malicious actors could use sniffing tools to obtain sensitive information such as passwords or credit card numbers. This can put your sensitive communications or transactions at risk. Many public access points are not secured and the traffic they carry is not encrypted. This will ensure you are connecting to a trusted access point.
#ROUTER CHECKER FROM F SECURE PASSWORD#
Always confirm the name and password of a public Wi-Fi hotspot prior to use. This data may include credit card numbers, username and password combinations, and other personal information. Because the victim is connecting to the internet through the attacker’s system, it’s easy for the attacker to use specialized tools to read any data the victim sends over the internet. The adversary uses a broadcast signal stronger than the one generated by the legitimate access point then, unsuspecting users connect using the stronger signal. In an evil twin attack, an adversary gathers information about a public network access point, then sets up their system to impersonate it. This practice is known as “wardriving.” Evil Twin Attacks

Savvy computer users know this, and some have made a hobby out of driving through cities and neighborhoods with a wireless-equipped computer-sometimes with a powerful antenna-searching for unsecured wireless networks. The broadcast range of a wireless access point can make internet connections available outside your home, even as far away as your street. Wardriving is a specific kind of piggybacking. These users may be able to conduct illegal activity, monitor and capture your web traffic, or steal personal files. So, if your neighborhood is closely settled, or if you live in an apartment or condominium, failure to secure your wireless network could open your internet connection to many unintended users. Outdoors, this range may extend as far as 1,000 feet. The typical indoor broadcast range of an access point is 150–300 feet. If you fail to secure your wireless network, anyone with a wireless-enabled computer in range of your access point can use your connection. Whether it’s a home or business network, the risks to an unsecured wireless network are the same. What are the risks to your wireless network? Taking a few precautions in the configuration and use of your devices can help prevent this type of activity. Internet-connected devices may be used by nefarious entities to collect personal information, steal identities, compromise financial data, and silently listen to-or watch-users. With the number of these devices on the rise, it is important to implement a security strategy to minimize their potential for exploitation (see Securing the Internet of Things). In today’s connected world, almost everyone has at least one internet-connected device.
