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by Glenn Fleishman
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Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security
Learn how to keep intruders out of your wireless network and protect your sensitive communications!
It's ten o'clock—do you know who's using your wireless network? If you haven't changed the default network name or admin password someone could be eavesdropping on your email, plucking your passwords out of the air, or sending spam through your Internet connection right now! When you're using a wireless network—whether a Macintosh with AirPort gear or Windows with any Wi-Fi equipment—you're exposed to risk unless you take steps.
- More Info
- Contents & Intro
- FAQ
- Blog
Wireless networking experts Glenn Fleishman and Adam Engst have spent years researching and covering wireless security issues on Glenn's Wi-Fi Networking News blog and in two editions of The Wireless Networking Starter Kit. Now they've distilled that experience into this essential guide for anyone using a computer with wireless networks, whether at home, at work, or on the road. You'll learn how to evaluate your real security risks; the best way to restrict access to your network using WPA and WPS; how to secure your data in transit with PGP, SSL, SSH, and VPNs; and how to protect your computers from viruses and attacks. The book provides extra advice on how to secure small-office wireless network, including details on choosing VPN hardware and software and on setting up 802.1X for secure Wi-Fi logins.
"The authors, two guys with enormous geek credibility, take the confusing tangle of Wi-Fi security issues and break it down for you in plain language. The book is a marvel of excellent technical writing for a general audience."
—Barry Campbell on Blogcritics.org
Read this book to learn the answers to questions like:
- Should I worry about someone eavesdropping on my home wireless network?
- What three security measures should I take immediately to lock down my wireless gateway?
- What common security measures aren't worthwhile?
- Why is WEP not worth bothering with, and what should I use instead?
- How do I set up guest networking on the 2009 dual-band AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models?
- How do I set up WPS on Apple and non-Apple gear?
- What does it mean if I see green shading in my browser's URL field?
- Do I need a VPN to protect my sensitive work communications?
- What is sidejacking, and what should I do about it?
- Can I control access to my wireless network by user name and password?
- What software can I use for secure email and file transfer?
- How does public-key encryption work?
- Our office has only 15 people—can we afford the best Wi-Fi security?
Book Info
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About the Author
Adam C. Engst is the publisher of TidBITS and of the Take Control ebook series. He has written numerous technical books, including the best-selling Internet Starter Kit series, and many magazine articles - thanks to Contributing Editor positions at MacUser, MacWEEK, and now Macworld. He has been turned into an action figure. |
Book Reviews
Author Interviews
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Glenn Fleishman is a technology journalist based in Seattle, where he lives with his wife and two sons, both of whom are adept at accidentally pressing the Power button on his laptop.
He’s a contributing editor at Introduction
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
—Internet security saying
Networking wasn't supposed to be like this. When computer networks were invented, no one anticipated hundreds of millions of naive users. Nor did they expect crackers, viruses, worms, spam, or spyware. But that's where we've ended up. Most people are clueless about security, and few people devote any time to making their systems secure.
The biggest security risk comes from the fact that computers are all networked these days: to each other and to the Internet. Want a totally secure computer? Make sure it isn't connected to the Internet, or to any other computer, and put it in a locked room with an armed guard checking identification on those who enter. Not very useful, eh?
Wireless networking, because it makes connecting computers so simple, makes proper security even more critical. Before wireless networking, you could rely on a locked door to restrict access to your Ethernet jacks, and thus to your network. But now, transmissions over wireless networks—because they go through locked doors, along with walls, ceilings, floors, and other obstructions—are easily intercepted by consumer-level equipment just like the gear you use to connect your computers and access point.
So anyone within range of your wireless network can connect to it, and, unless you've taken appropriate precautions, wreak all sorts of havoc. And, unfortunately, understanding the reality of wireless security is nowhere near as simple as setting up a wireless network to start.
Our goal in Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security is to bring clarity to the topic; to help you determine how worried you should be about different security problems; and to give you the knowledge you need to lock down your network, protect your data in transit, and secure your systems against attack.
Before we get started, we want to mention a few important caveats:
- We're writing this book for individual users with wireless networks at home and for people who run small to medium-sized office networks (from 2 to 50 people), not for veteran network administrators who manage large institutional networks.
- Security, whether you're talking about protecting your car, your home, or your wireless network, is hard, mostly because it's a battle with another human being. Locking your door with a simple knob lock stops amateur thieves, but keeping more experienced thieves out requires a strong deadbolt. And if you live where burglary is likely, or if you have especially valuable property, you have to think about whether multiple locks, alarm systems, or bars on the windows are also necessary. Unfortunately, the kind of people who break into networks are usually much smarter than garden-variety thieves, and as a result, the security measures you must take are commensurately more complicated. So, our apologies up front, but some sections of this book are inherently quite technical.
- Because every network uses different hardware, software, and configurations, we can't give exact, foolproof, step-by-step instructions for every task we explain. That said, by the time you finish reading this book, you should have the background necessary to configure the networking hardware and software you do have (or are willing to purchase) to the level of security you want to achieve.
We've been using and writing about various forms of networking for more than 40 years combined, and we've both set up and maintained numerous wired and wireless networks over that time. And over those years of networking computers together, we've experienced the seedier side of the industry: attacks on our networks via the Internet, password thefts, wireless snoopers, and more. We've shared our experience in many articles and public presentations, and now we look forward to sharing it with you.
Quick Start
You can read this title in the order shown here, or you can click a link to jump to a topic immediately. That said, if you're new to the topic of security, we encourage you to read Determine Your Security Risk first to get a sense of how concerned you should be about security.
Determine how worried you should be about security:
- Learn about the three Ls of security: likelihood of attack, liability in the event of loss, and lost opportunity. See Determine Your Security Risk.
- Figure out where you stand on the continuum of people who should be concerned about security. See What You Should Do.
Lock down your wireless network:
- Take care of three basic security measures with the configuration of your Wi-Fi router. Read Use Secure Settings.
- Discover which widely used security mechanisms won't prevent determined attackers. See Ignore These Sops to Security and Avoid WEP encryption.
- Turn on wireless security that is guaranteed to keep intruders out. See Use Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2) and Simplify with Wi-Fi Protected Setup. Also, be sure to read Appendix A: Password Advice.
- Consider setting up special access features for guests; see Use Apple’s guest networking and Share via Devicescape).
- If you need to protect more than just a home computer or two, be sure to read Secure Small Office Wi-Fi for additional details.
Protect your data in transit:
- Keep miscreants from discovering your passwords and reading your communications. See Encrypt Email Passwords and Encrypt Specific Files and Messages.
- Armor your Internet sessions inside protected tunnels to keep snoopers from listening to your traffic. See Encrypt Chunks of Data with SSL/TLS, Encrypt Data Streams with SSH, and Encrypt All Data with a VPN.
Secure your computers:
- Protect Your Systems from viruses, spyware, and crackers.
I have a wireless router connected to cable modem, but my router isn't from Apple. Will this book help me set up WPA security on my wireless network?
The book does explain how to set up WPA security, but we don't provide specific instructions for each router, since there are a wide variety of slightly different interfaces. The details we offer should be enough to make your router work, and we do include step-by-step setup directions for Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Windows Vista for configuring WPA connections to a router that uses WPA encryption.
Can I read this ebook on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch?
There are lots of great ways to read PDFs on these devices. For more details, please read our latest Device Advice.
Ask a Question
Feel free to ask us if you have a question about this book!
Send Us Your Comments!
How could we not publish such kind words? If you'd like to send us your comments (good or bad, though we hope they're all good), just click the Feedback link on the cover of your copy of the ebook. Be sure to let us know if we can publish your comment. Thanks!
Snow Leopard Data Loss Bug
November 2, 2009 --
Apple has publicly acknowledged a rare but nasty data-destroying bug related to using the Guest account in Snow Leopard. The bug appears to be associated with having a Guest account already set up before you upgrade to Snow Leopard. While there is currently no fix available, we hope to see one in 10.6.2. To learn more, check out my TidBITS article, Apple Acknowledges Guest Account Data Loss Bug. [This bug was fixed in 10.6.2.]
—Doug McLean
Glenn and Adam Discuss AirPort Networking on MacVoices
June 12, 2009 --
One of the interesting things about Apple's AirPort networking hardware is that it often evolves in subtle ways that Apple doesn't call out, making books like Glenn Fleishman's Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network all the more useful. Plus, since many of us add newer AirPort devices to networks that already rely on older AirPort hardware, our wireless networks are becoming all the more complex, even as setting up a very simple one becomes easier. That's the theme of this MacVoices podcast discussion with host Chuck Joiner, so if you're interested in learning about the new features Glenn explains in Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Network and the ways that Glenn and Take Control publisher Adam Engst revised their Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security, listen to this podcast.
—Adam C. Engst
Is Your Wireless Network Secure?
April 14, 2009 --
We've just released a new version of Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security, penned jointly by wireless networking guru Glenn Fleishman and Take Control publisher Adam Engst. The ebook is aimed at anyone who is running a home or small-office wireless network and who wants to set up and maintain an appropriate security level for their needs and budget. Glenn and Adam have been publishing articles and books about wireless security for ages, so this new version contains the distilled essence of years of thinking about the topic, along with fresh material to bring their discussions up-to-date for 2009. They have added the latest details relating to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, current recommendations for setting up WPA and WPS security, and steps for configuring guest networking with Apple's recently released base stations. To ensure that your wireless network is appropriately secure, visit this link to purchase a copy of the $10 ebook:
Although the last update to Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security came in October 2007, we're still making this version a free update for anyone who owns a previous edition of the ebook. In your existing PDF, click Check for Updates on the first page to access a download link.
Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security helps you assess your real-world security risk, and aids in evaluating the likelihood of a security-related problem, the potential severity of a break-in, and the opportunity cost of securing your wireless network. It then goes on to explain the pros and cons of various security techniques, explaining how to implement the best ones to secure your network and your data in transit. It covers Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.
—Adam C. Engst
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