Ensuring Home Networking Security Mountain Home AR

Ten years ago, a virus had you bed-ridden and worms were for the birds. Today, anyone with a computer comes into contact with both on a daily basis.

Preventing the intrusion of worms and viruses has become a way of life (and relatively easy to do, if you have the proper software), but the issue of security becomes a little more complex when applied to a home network. Having your computer files deleted or messed with is one thing; being "digitally burgled" is quite another.

"When you think of security in terms of a home network, where data is passing in, through, and out of the house, the point of weakness is at the router gateway, where the house makes the connection to the outside world," said Gordon van Zuiden, president of cyberManor (www.cybermanor.com), a networking company based in Los Gatos, California. "There are more and more of these wireless access points because they have become popular; with these, you introduce the ability for someone to be on your network and not be in your house because of the wireless range issue. That security issue opens you to theft, viruses and the ability for people to take advantage of your open e-mail system and attach files that do nasty things to your system."

The protocols themselves are vulnerable, too, according to Bill Rose, president of WJR Consulting (860.313.8098) in West Hartford, Connecticut, which services companies that develop home networking technologies. "Wi-Fi is very easily hacked; if one has any desire and a bit of knowledge they can get through it. There is that vulnerability if you are wireless," he said. "With Ethernet you are hard-wired, so you cannot really be hacked unless it is coming through the Internet. There, your security is only as good as your firewall."

Security is something that needs to be factored in, acknowledged Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance (www.wi-fi-org), which recently announced the IEEE 802.11g certification of the first round of products. "The people who are installing wireless networks need to really understand how to install these solutions successfully." Hanzlik pointed to the Wi-Fi Alliance as a resource for companies that install these systems.

While those implementing home networking systems may be doing everything they can to ensure that networks are secure, these parties have little control once they bid their client farewell. Today's security measures often make it difficult for users to perform simple tasks; homeowners with little patience for fiddling with finicky technology may just as soon operate their systems with the security features disabled.

"When we tighten up security--whether through logins, passwords, encryption keys, or firewalls--it comes at a cost," van Zuiden noted. "The cost is one of typically poor or slower performance that prevents the user from doing something. You can install many of these systems, but most of the time they end up being a deterrent to the homeowner who wants to do something but ...

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