Is My Wi-fi Secure?

My friend EQ and I were talking the other day about parenting. She is in her early 20’s and works in a national retail video game chain and was questioning me about why so many parents buy games for kids and don’t check if the game is age appropriate for their child.

“You don’t know how many parents come in willing to buy “M” rated games for their kids! When I warn them, they don’t care! You wouldn’t believe how many parents don’t even know if they have a secure wi-fi. They ask ‘Why do I need that?’” EQ said incredulously.

Well, yeah, I would believe that. The truth is parents rush sometimes and they don’t realize that there are systems in place to easily show them what games are appropriate to buy for their kids. They also may not realize the importance of securing their wi-fi and having a firewall on their computer.

So for my friend EQ, I am doing a post all about wi-fi to get parents up to speed.

Wi-fi is a wireless network set up so computers such as laptops can access the Internet anywhere within range of a wireless modem. If your internet service provider installed your modem and provided you with a password your wifi may already be secure.

To find out if your wifi is secure:

1.      Go to Start > Control panel > Network connections > Wireless network connections (you will see if it is firewalled here)> View Wireless connections.

2.      Or: You can also look on the lower right side of your screen and right click on your wireless connection icon > view available wireless connections.

3.      Then under your network it will say “Security enabled” or “Unsecured”.

4.      If it is not secure, look up how to set up a secure network in the manual for your modem or call your Internet provider for help.

You may be wondering why you need to secure your wireless connection. Well, if your wi-fi is not secure, it makes it easy for criminals to gain access to your computer and find information such as credit card info, social security numbers or tax info to steal your identity.

If your security suite already has a firewall to block criminals from accessing your computer, you may wonder why you need both. To explain, I am using a story I came across a story in the newspaper. The article by Carolyn Thompson in USA Today tells the story about a man in Buffalo. Federal agents burst into his home with assault rifles trained on him calling him a pedophile. Thousands of child pornography images had been downloaded to his web address the day before – only it wasn’t this man who did it. He had set up his wi-fi and couldn’t figure out how to secure it.

“Within three days, investigators determined the homeowner had been telling the truth: If someone was downloading child pornography through his wireless signal, it wasn’t him. About a week later, agents arrested a 25-year-old neighbor and charged him with distribution of child pornography. The case is pending in federal court” says Thompson.

This may be extreme, but it is a perfect example of why everyone needs to take control of their digital life. If not for yourself, do it as your patriotic duty to protect our country from these creeps. Criminals are constantly on the lookout for those of us who skip a security step and open ourselves up to be a victim.

So go secure that wifi and stay safe out there!

Tracy

@McAfeeCyberMom on Twitter

Tags: cybermom, how to set up wi fi, secure wi fi, wifi

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