Airport security

[WTL]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC
Email Client: pop

No, it's not about getting strip-searched at LAX. My wife and I have an Airport network at home for our two computers - it works flawlessly (Time Warner is another matter). The other day our next-door neighbor mentioned that her computer detected our Airport's name. I've heard of neighbors or even people passing by in cars being able to lock onto the Airport signal and use it to gain Internet access. Since our neighbor mentioned this, I've been a little concerned about our computers' security. Is this something to worry about? If so, what can be done about it? I've considered setting up a Master Password and activating FileVault, but don't know if this would address the problem...if there is a problem.

Thanks very much.

WTL

 

[pmhapp]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC
Email Client: pop

No, it's not about getting strip-searched at LAX. My wife and I have an Airport network at home for our two computers - it works flawlessly (Time Warner is another matter). The other day our next-door neighbor mentioned that her computer detected our Airport's name. I've heard of neighbors or evenpeople passing by in cars being able to lock onto the Airport signal and use it to gain Internet access. Since our neighbor mentioned this, I've beena little concerned about our computers' security. Is this something to worry about? If so, what can be done about it? I've considered setting up a Master Password and activating FileVault, but don't know if this would address the problem...if there is a problem.

Thanks very much.

WTL

What does this have to do with Entourage?

 

[WTL]

What does this have to do with Entourage?

Oh. Hmmm. Good question. Didn't notice. Sorry. Forget I said anything. Delete it.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

The other day our next-door neighbor
mentioned that her computer detected our Airport's name.

There are many possible levels of Wifi security.
The network name (SSID) just tells people your network exists. It
doesn't mean other people can get in.
You need to have your network secure. Use one of the many options
Airport offers. I would suggest WPA2. WEP is the most frequently used
encryption protocol but it's also the weakest. Some software crack them
withon a few hours through brute force attacks. WPA2 is far more secure.

In addition to network encryption, you could do MAC address filtering.
This only allows computers with a specific MAC (not Mac) address to get
in. I think it's overkill and MAC address can be spoofed anyway.

You could also hide the SSID. This would mean that you'd need to use the
Other Network command and enter the name of your network manually when
you want to connect. Not perfect either, but it adds one layer of
security.

Corentin

 

[WTL]

Oh. Hmmm. Good question. Didn't notice. Sorry. Forget I said anything. Delete
it.

Unfortunately, since this is Usenet, there is no way to delete it. What
you post here is here until the end of time (or at least until the end
of Usenet - whichever comes first). ; )

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR
[/QUOTE]

What happened is that I got such terrific help here on dealing with Entourage spam that I kind of blindly waded back in not noticing the forum's only for Entourage, not other Mac issues. Thanks for the...hey! you're one of the guys who helped me so much! The spam filters are working perfectly, no spam is getting through to my inbox at all, and when I tell it to run schedule, it actually does it! Thank you again VERY much.

Bill

 

[WTL]

wrote:

There are many possible levels of Wifi security.
The network name (SSID) just tells people your network exists. It
doesn't mean other people can get in.
You need to have your network secure. Use one of the many options
Airport offers. I would suggest WPA2. WEP is the most frequently used
encryption protocol but it's also the weakest. Some software crack them
withon a few hours through brute force attacks. WPA2 is far more secure.

In addition to network encryption, you could do MAC address filtering.
This only allows computers with a specific MAC (not Mac) address to get
in. I think it's overkill and MAC address can be spoofed anyway.

You could also hide the SSID. This would mean that you'd need to use the
Other Network command and enter the name of your network manually when
you want to connect. Not perfect either, but it adds one layer of
security.

Corentin

--
--- Mac:MS MVP <http://www.cortig.net/wordpress/> ---
<http://www.mvps.org> - <http://mvp.support.microsoft.com>
MVPs are not MS employees - Les MVP ne travaillent pas pour MS
Remove "NoSpam" to e-mail me - Retirez "NoSpam" pour m'�crire

Merci, Corentin. (Well, that's what three years of high school French left me.) I'll check into this, but it's good to know that we're most likely pretty secure - I'm sure our neighbors are both more technologically clueless than we are and aren't inclined to go hacking anyway. Merci beaucoup. (wow! I remembered another word!)

Guillaume (and another...it's all coming back to me now...well, no it isn't...)

 

[WTL]

No, it's not about getting strip-searched at LAX. My wife and I have an
Airport network at home for our two computers - it works flawlessly (Time
Warner is another matter). The other day our next-door neighbor mentioned
that her computer detected our Airport's name. I've heard of neighbors or
even people passing by in cars being able to lock onto the Airport signal and
use it to gain Internet access. Since our neighbor mentioned this, I've been
a little concerned about our computers' security. Is this something to worry
about? If so, what can be done about it? I've considered setting up a Master
Password and activating FileVault, but don't know if this would address the
problem...if there is a problem.

This question wouldreally be better asked in comp.sys.mac.system, where
this type of thing is discussed very frequently. This news group, in
contrast, is for discussion of Microsoft Entourage.

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR
[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that lead, Jolly roger - I'll check it out.

Bill

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Merci, Corentin. (Well, that's what three years of high school French
left me.)

you're welcome.

I'll check into this, but it's good to know that we're most
likely pretty secure - I'm sure our neighbors are both more
technologically clueless than we are and aren't inclined to go hacking
anyway. Merci beaucoup. (wow! I remembered another word!)

Well your neighbor might be clueless, but other people passing by might
not. It's always good to have a secure network.

Guillaume (and another...it's all coming back to me now...well, no it
isn't...)

:-D

Corentin

 

[Barry Wainwright]

Unfortunately, since this is Usenet, there is no way to delete it. What
you post here is here until the end of time (or at least until the end
of Usenet - whichever comes first). ; )

Usenet _is_ the end of time (free time, that is)!