Working from home is great and has many advantages.  However when you are relying on your Wireless Network Security to keep your information safe, you need to make sure that you have done all that you can to keep your wireless network safe and free from intruders and any virus infiltration.

Wireless local area networks (WLAN) work by sending information via radio waves, so anyone else that has a receiver in your locality could easily be picking up your transmission, thus gaining complete access to your computer.  Apart from the access issue, you could find your computer system vunerable to viruses.
The statistics around wireless network security are quite worrying – upto 65% of WLAN users have not got standard security installed, and as many as 20% of users have no protection whatsoever with a completely open connection.   This probably happens because someone setting up their own network just wants to get the job completed as quickly as possible, and once it works they don’t bother with the niceties.

Here are some tips to help with your wireless newtwork security

Try and ensure that the router/access point is always set up via a wired client.

Always, always change any default passwords to a more secure password.

You need an absolute minimum of 128 bit WEP encryption.  You should change your WEP keys every now and again.

WEP gives a minimum level of security so should be enabled.

Set your computer up to connect to your wireless network by default, and change the SSID setting to a much harder to guess name that it’s given as standard.

If possible set your router/access point so that it does not broadcase your SSID.

Always block any anonymous internet pings or requests.

Enable your firewall features.

You need a personal firewall configures as well as a hardware firewall.

Always locate your router/access point away from people you don’t know so that no-one can reset it to the factory default settings

Try to locate router/access points centrally in the building rather than near to windows or doors – this will limit the coverage outside.

Nothing that has been suggested is going to give you 100% protection, but they will certainly be a good deterrent against any outside attack.