Hacking WEP encryption in three minutes

Having a wireless network at home is great because it allows you to have access to the Internet anywhere at home (even in the bathroom!). But have you ever thought about being hacked? I have always known that the WEP encryption scheme is not 100% secure and someone can break into your network after sniffing your packets after many hours or a few days using the Brute Force technique. And now even the feds can hack into your network in three minutes with some of the new network cracking tools and techniques.

Special Agent Bickers and his team have some tips for us in order to make our network more secure:

1) Network segregation
Put your access point on a separate subnet, with a firewall separating the wireless and internal users

2) Change the default settings on your access point
Default settings (SSID, administrator password, channel) are well known and even included as part of some WLAN attack tools

3) Use WPA with a strong key
WPA is a definite improvement over WEP in providing wireless security. But the version intended for home and SOHO use—WPA-PSK—has a weakness shared by any passphrase security mechanism. The choice of simple, common and short passphrases may allow your WPA-protected WLAN to be quickly compromised via dictionary attack (more info here).

4) Update your firmware
This is helpful if your AP or client doesn't currently support WPA. Many manufacturers have newer firmware for 802.11g products that add WPA support. You may also find this for 802.11b gear, but it's not as common. Check anyway!

5) Turn off the WLAN when not in use
A $5 lamp timer from your local hardware store is a simple, but effective way to keep your WLAN or LAN from harm while you're sleeping.