Encryption

Jun 09,2010 by alperen

When you think of your wireless network, you must consider several
options. It is an incredible convenience to be able to establish a LAN wirelessly, but remember that specific trivial measures should be take
to secure your network.
When you set up your wireless router you can set an encryption key
which would keep an unauthorized person from trying to log onto your
network. There are three levels of encryption possible, depending on the
hardware you purchased.

Off—No data encryption
64-bit encryption
128-bit encryption

By default, all wireless routers are configured with no data encryption
whatsoever. Most users and administrators don’t even realize that
by setting a very simple parameter in the Web configuration dialog, you
can easily establish an encryption key for at least the 64-bit encryption.
Using this simple encryption method, if anyone tries to eavesdrop on the
wireless traffic in your network, he would have a difficult time decoding
your session.

For a few more dollars, you can invest in network cards that support
128-bit encryption. This provides you with a much more comprehensive
level of protection that makes it even more difficult for a hacker to try to
decode any network session between a user on your wireless network
and the wireless LAN access point.
You can establish an encryption key known only to the access point
and to the user; this makes it very difficult for many people to roam onto
your network.

It is important to note that while encryption protocols stop the vast
majority of hackers from roaming onto your network or decoding your
network traffic sessions, it is not impossible for any wireless encryption
key or scheme to be broken. In fact, given enough time (as little as a few
days or weeks), a hacker can determine even the key to your 128-bit
encryption scheme and roam onto your network. He can then, theoretically,
decode your network traffic session and see all the data transmitted
across your network.