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Thursday, May 12, 2005 4:25 PM
War Driving: Part Two 5/13/05
First, we told you how they get in. Now, here's how to keep War Drivers out! Our I-Team shows you how to make sure you're not giving thieves an open invitation to steal your identity: Sound of War Driver This anonymous expert showed us how it's done... Sound of computer hit ...with a lap top, a basic program and a click, a hacker could get inside your wireless Internet system. And that means they could in any files on your computer. Sound of driving We didn't hack in — but alerted some folks in this Guilderland neighborhood that their systems were not secure. Woman: "I definitely have heard of that and it is a concern of mine." Randy Zielinski of Technical Business Solutions in Schenectady protects computer systems for a living. He says everybody wants a wireless these days — to surf the net from cafes and other spots. But their eagerness to do it quickly could backfire! Randy Zielinski/Technical Business Solutions "Out of the box...well everybody has the same defaults, the same passwords, typically the same security identifier." Hackers know those defaults...so if you keep them...they can break in a matter of seconds. Sound of computer What's step one in protecting yourself? STEP #1: CHANGE USERNAME AND PASSWORD Change the default username and password to something else. Sound of computer typing STEP #2: CHANGE SECURITY IDENTIFIER Next, go into your "Wireless Settings" and change your Security Identifier or SSID. Randy Zielinski: "Click on enter your own." This is a name that could come up on a war driver's computer. Randy Zielinski/Technical Business Solutions: "You don't want to use your address or something like that — or your phone number. You want to come up with some kind of unique name." If you are broadcasting your SSID out to other wireless users...you're saying: Randy Zielinski: "Here's my network name...come and get me." STEP #3: DON'T BROADCAST SSID So, don't do it! For number 3...go to Wireless security settings...and Broadcast SSID. Randy Zielinski: "Really, what you want to do is deny that SSID." STEP #4: WEP ENCRYPTION Step 4...WEP Encryption. If it's not encrypted: Randy Zielinski: "It allows any device to talk to your network at that point." So...when you connect your wireless lap top...enter your computer's ASCI code under WEP encryption. That will keep outsiders out. STEP #5: MAC ADDRESS The final step is more complicated but Zielinski says it will make your security rock solid. Look for a link to your "Wireless MAC Filter." Randy Zielinski: "Basically, you can tell your access point to only accept data from that particular mac address." To find your MAC address... Randy Zielinski: "Basically, all you need to do is to get into a DOS prompt type in ipconfig /all" Then look for a mix of numbers and letters like this...and register it in your MAC address. Zielinski says these steps will take half an hour to complete...half an hour that could prevent frustration and financial loss if war drivers did get into your system. Randy Zielinski: "If you did all these things...you'd have a very secure home wireless network." Zielinski told us he knows of cases where thieves have been successful. One war driver wiped out a local business' entire database — but thankfully, they had a backup system. Still, it took them days to recover.
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A Subscription to Scam? 5/25/05
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