Download Computer Viruses For Dummies

Chapter 15: How Viruses Function and Propagate
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Some security flaws have been discovered in the 802.11b and
802.11g protocols that Wi-Fi uses, that would permit someone
to connect to a Wi-Fi network and eavesdrop on the network
traffic. The book Hacking For Dummies tells you how to protect your Wi-Fi network from these vulnerabilities. That book
would look mighty fine on your bookshelf next to Computer
Viruses For Dummies (some of your friends might even begin
to fear you).
This will continue to be a problem for some time to come, as
tens or hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi access points (for
example, the base stations installed in homes or businesses)
have been sold and deployed. Upgrading all the existing
equipment to more secure configurations will be costly and
time-consuming — and not everyone who owns one is even
aware that there are some risks associated with Wi-Fi networks. And certainly many who know don’t understand or
care about the risks (I hope that you are not among them).
I advise you to equip each computer in your network with a
good software firewall product if you do have a Wi-Fi network.
This will practically eliminate the opportunity for a hacker to
break in to any of your computers should your Wi-Fi network
actually be targeted and successfully broken in to. I talk about
firewalls in detail in Chapter 10.
Cellular
Road warriors and others who spend a lot of time “in the field”
can stay connected by subscribing to wireless data services
offered by most of the larger cellular network carriers. The
two technologies generally available are 1XRTT and GPRS,
although consumers of these usually encounter friendlier
product names such as T-Zones or Mlife.
The risks associated with wireless cellular data networks are
substantially lower than with Wi-Fi networks. The encryption
of wireless cellular networks has not been broken, and the
way that signals are transmitted makes it practically impossible for anyone to eavesdrop on communications.
There is a risk that your laptop computer (or PDA, or whatever
you’re using to connect to a wireless cellular network) could
be scanned and compromised. The risks here are very much
like the risks associated with connecting to the Internet using