Home Network: Protecting your home wireless network

Protecting your home wireless network

Protecting your home wireless network is an integral part of having a reliable and secure network. It is important for many reasons. Since wireless signals are transmitted in all directions, it easy for an outside intruder to pick up on a signal and connect to the network. Intruders may simply user your Internet connection or in more serious cases delete valuable files and data. Protection from intruders is only one aspect of network security. Hackers will attempt to connect to the network from the Internet and perform rogue actions such as launching attacks on other computers from the attacked machine. The target machine can be used for things such as sending out spoof and spam emails. Protection begins by securing the router from outside attacks. Data encryption is important as is allowing only known computers to connect to the network. It is worth investing in a router with a built in firewall, if not a software firewall will be essential. Installing up to date antivirus software is also an integral part of protecting a wireless network.