.FLYINGHEAD HOME NETWORKING
.TITLE Please stop clicking on the monkey: a Q&A on home networking security
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.SUMMARY In this latest Q&A, Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz speaks with Jim Doherty and Neil Anderson, authors of "Home Networking Simplified".
.OTHER
Home Networking Simplified,, shown in Figure A, is a new book from Cisco Press by authors Jim Doherty and Neil Anderson. In this Q&A session, Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz talks networking, Internet, and security with the "Home Networking" authors.
.FIGPAIR A Home Networking Simplified provides good information on getting your home network up and running.
.Q David
Please introduce yourselves and help us understand your background. Tell us anything you think our readers might find interesting about you.
.A Jim and Neil
Jim Doherty is currently the director of Strategic Marketing with Symbol Technologies. Prior to joining Symbol, Jim worked at Cisco Systems, where he led marketing campaigns for IP Telephony, and routing and switching. Over the past several years, he has taught professionals in both academic and industry settings on a broad range of topics, including networking, electric circuits, statistics, and wireless communication methods. Jim is the co-author of Cisco Networking Simplified and wrote the Study Notes section of the Cisco CCNA Exam #640-607 Flash Card Practice Kit. Jim holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from N.C. State University and an MBA from Duke University. Jim also served in the United States Marine Corps, where he earned the rank of Sergeant, before leaving to pursue an education.
.CALLOUT Please stop clicking on the monkey to win money.
Neil Anderson is a manager in Enterprise Systems Engineering at Cisco Systems. Neil has 20 years of diverse telecom experience, including public telephone systems, mobile telephone systems, IP networks, wireless networking, and home networks. Neil has held roles in Research & Development, Systems Engineering, and Technical Marketing. At Cisco Systems, Neil has worked with Virtual Private Network (VPN), Voice over IP (VoIP), and wireless LAN (WLAN) technologies, focusing on network architectures for enterprise and small business customers. Neil holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
.Q David
Tell us about your book
.A Jim and Neil
Well, both of us end up helping a lot of family and friends with their home networking. We got the idea for the book when we asked ourselves: why is this stuff so hard for most people? It doesn’t have to be hard, and can be kind of fun…when stuff works.
.BREAK_EMAIL Why is this stuff so complicated? Tap here to learn how to make networking easier and safer.
The book, Home Networking Simplified attempts to cut through all the options out there and focus on what will work. We explain how the technology works at high detail level, giving readers an understanding of the terms so they can talk to the people at their favorite electronics store, or at least not be baffled/bullied by the computer geek in their lives.
Many books are targeted at the computer-savvy crowd. Our goal was to create something so that even the reader who is a computer novice would feel comfortable going through the steps to build a network, know why they took the steps they did, and sleep at night knowing they have a functional, secure, and easy to use network. If we can get a laugh here and there out of the readers, so much the better.
One feature of the book worth pointing out is the participation we got from our friends at the Geek Squad. These guys are hands down the best "home network support group" on the planet. They were kind enough to help review our book, and inserted many good tips and bits of wisdom for our readers. They also took the opportunity to poke some fun at us (the authors) along the way. Just to show we were good sports we kept their comments in the book for our readers to enjoy.
.Q David
Why is this stuff so complicated?
.A Jim and Neil
Well that’s just it; it doesn’t have to be complicated. It seems complicated because the technology is new to most people. There’s a new language associated with the technology, and a lot of "free" advice out there that’s misleading or flat out wrong. The technology also moves extremely fast, so what you knew yesterday will be different than what you need to know tomorrow.
Another factor is the myriad of options out there. Computer and networking manufacturers often try to make their products do everything for everyone in every situation. What often results is what we like to call the "egg-laying-milk-pig", the product that does many things, but can be difficult to get to do what you want.
One word of advice is to write it down, keep a notebook of what you plan to do, what you did, and the results. That way if you do run into issues, you have a record you can show someone more knowledgeable to get help.
.Q David
What are the advantages of wireless networking?
.A Jim and Neil
Two words: fast and flexible. A wireless network provides instant connectivity from just about anywhere in or near your house. Most families now have more than one computer. The alternative is to run network cables through your house to reach your computers, and that just isn’t practical for most people.
.CALLOUT Just how much of a problem is security for regular Internet users?
With wireless, you can literally set up a network throughout your entire house in a matter of minutes, without the hassle and expense of cables. Wireless allows computers to be placed wherever you want to use them. You can also use your laptop away from your home in coffee shops, airports, hotels, etc.
.Q David
Just how much of a problem is security for regular Internet users?
.A Jim and Neil
Many people have serious security flaws in their network, even "regular Internet users". One of the main problems is that most people associate security with a single problem, such as computer viruses or identity theft. The reality is, there are numerous threats, each requiring unique attention and solutions.
The good news is that the average home network owners/users (meaning people who have done little or nothing to improve security) can dramatically improve the security of their computers, their networks, and the protection of their personal information with just a couple of steps.
Security is a very broad topic, but if we could recommend three minimum measures everyone should implement, they would be to install anti-virus software and keep it up to date, turn on wireless security for your wireless network, and protect your network and computer with firewalls.
None of this is "bullet proof" of course, but a few steps can make you considerably less vulnerable to bad things happening to your network, or your personal information.
.Q David
What’s the best way to keep my network and PCs safe from viruses?
.A Jim and Neil
The "best" way is to install an anti-virus program that protects against known viruses, but also checks against "suspicious behaviors" that may be undiscovered viruses (or worms for that matter, and we explain what the difference is). There are very good programs on the market from vendors such as Symantec and McAfee. They cost an initial fee and an annual subscription to continue to receive the latest virus threat information, but they’re well worth the cost. If you want to skimp on your home networking expenses, this is not the place to do it.
Another thing you must do (yes we said must) is keep your operating system software updated. It might seem like a pain to download the latest Windows security patches, but the reason they provide the patch is that someone (a good guy, or a hacker) has discovered an exploitable hole in the software, and the patch plugs the hole. You should make sure you have the latest operating system updates every month or so. Windows XP makes it easy by automatically checking for updates over the Internet and notifying you when they’re available.
.Q David
What do I need to do to protect my wireless network?
.A Jim and Neil
Unfortunately, in order to make wireless networks so easy to set up in your house, wireless routers out-of-the-box have little or no security turned on. Because most people either don’t understand the necessity to turn on wireless security measures, or perhaps get baffled by the terminology and options available, many wireless home networks are left wide-open. Leaving your wireless network open is like having your front door unlocked: eventually someone is going to walk in and take something.
There are several very basic steps you can take to secure your wireless network against the most common intrusions, including changing the SSID on your wireless router to something other than the default, disabling SSID broadcasting, most importantly turn on data encryption, such as WEP, or preferably WPA, and finally, change the administrator password of your wireless router.
Again, nothing is bulletproof, but the simple steps we provide will protect your network from the casual intruder by making you the harder target to crack in your neighborhood. Most intruders will likely move on to easier targets.
.Q David
How can a firewall help protect my home network? Is it better to use a hardware firewall or one that runs on your PC?
.A Jim and Neil
Firewalls can be a huge help. There are two basic types of firewalls: a hardware firewall, which is a dedicated firewall device in the network itself, and a personal firewall, which is a software firewall running on each computer.
Hardware, or network, firewalls protect the entire network from major intrusions, kind of like the lock on your front door. They are essential, especially if you have an "always on" Internet connection such as high-speed broadband Internet access. The good news is, many wireless routers are now offered with built-in firewalls and it takes just a mouse click to turn them on.
When you purchase your wireless router, look to see that it includes a "Stateful Packet Inspection" (SPI) firewall built-in.
Personal, or software, firewalls protect each computer from several threats, including unauthorized sending of information to the Internet, "hidden" software installations from unscrupulous Web sites, and general actions on your computer that could be performed without your consent. Personal firewalls are also essential if you take your laptop to a hotspot or another location outside your home network. The good news is, there are very good personal firewalls available for free, such as ZoneAlarm, or even simpler, with Windows XP, as of Service Pack 2, a personal firewall is built into the operating system. It takes just a mouse click to turn it on.
At a minimum, you should install one type of firewall. Ideally, we recommend both. By the way, firewalls do little (if anything) to keep intruders from accessing your wireless network (see the previous question).
.Q David
What’s spyware and how can we protect ourselves?
.A Jim and Neil
Spyware, and a related category called adware, refers to stowaway programs, which are typically attached to "free" downloads (games, pictures, music, etc.), or sent to you via a Web site (which your system could be allowing depending on the security settings in your browser). Clicking on pop-up ads is another great source of these, so please stop clicking on the monkey to win money.
In general, there’s no real danger to your system, or to your data from spyware, but these programs do "spy" on you, reporting back to the program owners (usually marketing companies) on the sites you visit and the nature of your on-line activity. That’s enough for most people to not want it, but what’s really obnoxious is that they slow down your computer and clog up your Internet connection as they report on you.
There are several good companies out there that sell anti-spyware software. Many offer a free trial period. If you’ve never checked your system for these programs, there’s a good chance you’ll be shocked by the number of spyware programs running on your system.
.Q David
What is this "phishing" stuff I keep hearing about?
.A Jim and Neil
If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Doubly so for the Internet. Unfortunately due to the anonymity and extremely low cost the Internet can provide, it’s an incredible medium for scam artists to operate. "Phishing" refers to sending you email that impersonates a company or organization with the ultimate goal to steal your information.
For example, an email arrives and looks like it’s from your bank or credit card company and wants you to click on a link to a Web site to verify your account information. Usually there’s an urgency implied in the email, such as your account being cancelled. The email and Web site will look totally legitimate, bearing the logos of the company. However, the Web site is fake, usually sitting somewhere in Asia, and if you enter your account information, it’s now stolen.
Never, ever, ever, ever respond to an email asking you to confirm your credit card information, bank information, account number, login account, etc. If your bank sends you email to confirm information, turn off your computer and call them from the number in your phone book. If your Internet service provider sends you email that your account is about to be cancelled, again look up their phone number and call them. Report fraudulent emails to your bank and the Federal Trade Commission.
.Q David
Is the Internet safe for kids?
.A Jim and Neil
The short answer is: no, not without supervision. There are quite a few Web sites and places on the Internet that aren’t for kids, including online gambling, pornography, adult topics, adult chat rooms, etc.
.CALLOUT Treat the Internet like an unfamiliar bar in an unknown city.
So one answer would be to not allow your kids to use the Internet at all. But this isn’t practical because there’s also a lot of truly great information on the Internet, such as research for school papers and projects, news and weather, challenging games with other kids, etc. Barring them from the Internet will quite frankly put them at a disadvantage with their peers throughout their lives.
Some very common sense things you can do to keep kids safe using the Internet is to place computers in common view areas in the home, such as the kitchen or living room, openly establish ground rules, including hours of usage, and what is and is not acceptable, enable a parental control program at your Internet service provider, in your wireless router, on each computer, or all three, and if rules are being openly violated, install an activity logging program.
.BEGIN_KEEP
.Q David
What else should I know about?
.A Jim and Neil
Beyond what we’ve covered above, most precautions are a matter of common sense. Just because you wear a seatbelt doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to drive 100mph in a snowstorm. Even with good protections in place, you still need to keep your guard up. Treat the Internet like an unfamiliar bar in an unknown city. Exercise caution, be suspicious, watch over your shoulder, and use your common sense.
The Internet is a fantastic resource of information, and you can’t really take the ostrich approach (i.e., head in the sand). Embrace it, but use common sense. Ask yourself, would I buy this or give this information to someone if they showed up at my door? How can this Web site afford to give money to everyone who clicks on the monkey? Who are all these men and women who are dying to meet me, don’t they have friends already? Why doesn’t my credit card company already have my account information?
Common sense, folks.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on "Home Networking Simplified", visit http://www.ciscopress.com/title/1587201364.
For more information on the Geek Squad, visit http://www.geeksquad.com.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.END_KEEP
