The Little Geeni

VoIP phone service has taken over the telecommunication world by storm! This is inexpensive and has a lot of features that are comparable to the PSTN (landlines); it is the best thing for individual users, small businesses and large businesses.

Are you tired of paying huge phone bills for long distance calls and international calls? Do you own a small business and want a low cost phone service? VoIP phone service is for YOU! You can go wireless with a VoIP phone.

Here are 7 steps that will help you switch to VoIP go wireless

1. You will need an updated computer.

You will need to have an upgraded computer that is compatible with VoIP software. When you are comparing and choosing service providers, pay more attention to see if they run their programs on Windows, MacOS or Linux operating systems. Especially, if you use Mac or Linux, don’t assume that all VoIP phone service providers will have your needs met. Some of the common features of computers that affect the ability to provide VoIP wireless are hardware, motherboards, processor speeds, memory (RAM), video and graphic cards. If your computer is obsolete, VoIP phone service may not be functional.

2. You must have a High Speed Internet access such as DSL or Cable

High Speed Internet is a must for VoIP phone services to function. There maybe a few companies that work with dial-up connection but the audio quality is not satisfactory sometimes and it is because of the lack of high speed internet service. High Speed Internet connections provide the bandwidth needed and produce great quality audio.

3. Do you need residential or business VoIP phone service?

Some of the differences between residential and business plans include faxing and email capabilities, more long distance on basic and not unlimited plans, and some companies even throw in goodies such as free yellow book advertising for business VoIP phone service plans. Again, creating a list of what you want in a VoIP service will help you better determine what your tele-communication requirements are.

4. Compare VoIP Phone Service Providers

There are many factors that affect your choice of VoIP phone service providers – the number of long distance calls, international calls, business VoIP phone service etc. Now it is time to compare various service providers. VoIP is so common that chances are you may have a friend or relative that may already be using it! So, word of mouth is good way of getting some feedback. Comparing is important and there are more details to know, so read the article at – http://www.ez-voip-phone-service.com/how-to-compare-voip-phone-service-before-buying/

After comparing VoIP phone services, you can decide which VoIP service best suits your needs. Purchase this VoIP plan.

5. Choose Your Own Area Code

A lot of VoIP providers will give you the option of choosing your own area code and phone number. Just to be clear – you can live anywhere and still choose an area code from any other place! This is a great option that is available only in VoIP services and not in PSTN (landline). This is also a good idea for business owners who want to target a particular area of customer. They can choose the area code of this particular area of customers. Now, for the customers, this call will be local call.

6. Purchase an adapter for your VoIP Phone

This is important if you want to go wireless and don’t plan on sitting near computer just to receive or make your phone calls. Most of the VoIP phone service providers send you free adapter. If you don’t receive a free adapter, then you can purchase one. With an adapter, you don’t have to sit near the computer. This will allow you to use your household phones to take calls.

7. Other Important Things about VoIP phone service

As you know, VoIP phones have very similar features such as setting up your voicemail, caller ID etc., you can configure it. In fact, there is an internet control panel that you can use to configure these features.

VoIP phone service is a definitely a blessing to the world of communication. You can make very inexpensive long distance and international calls and use business VoIP phone service for your business – small or large.

Information Technology Easy, Going, Phone, Service, Steps, Switching, VoIP, Wireless

Nowadays, implementation of wireless networks is very common. There are very less clutters in a wireless network, so it is a convenient way of network implementation and management. The troubleshooting of wireless network is easier than wired networks, so people prefer having wireless networks at workplace as well as at home.

However, wireless networks are more vulnerable to security flaws along with the convenience and easy approach of implementation. Even a person with less IT knowledge can easily access an unsecured wireless network and use unethically. Therefore, it is very important to restrict unauthorized access of wireless networks available at home or at your workplace. There are some standard security measures of securing your wireless networks from unauthorized access. In order to secure your wireless network, you can adopt following actions:

Restrict Wireless Network Broadcasting
The default setting of your Wi-Fi router allows automatic network broadcasting so that devices with wireless access feature can detect the wireless networks available in range. Choosing this default setting makes your wireless network open to everybody. To restrict automatic wireless network discovery you can disable this feature. Go through your wireless router manual to learn how to disable this feature.

Enable Data Encryption
Data Encryption is a well-accepted protocol to secure wireless networks. Nowadays, almost every Wi-Fi router or access points come with WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-Fi protected access) encryption schemes. By enabling any of these two encryption schemes, you can restrict the access of your Wi-Fi network.

Choosing Strong Network Password
While enabling data encryption, you are required to set a password to allow access to your wireless network. Choosing a strong password is very important to achieve required level of security. An ideal password is combination of alphanumeric keys and comprise of several characters. Avoid using your name, Date of Birth, or other common things as a password for your wireless network.

Activating Firewall
All wireless access points come with an in-built firewall to stop unauthorized incoming and outgoing connections through your wireless network. Learn how to use and customize this firewall for maximum level of wireless network security.

By following above instructions, you can secure wireless networks at your home or at workplace and enjoy the benefits of going wireless without any worries.

Computer Security Ensuring, Networks, Security, Wireless

Wireless networks are great and allow us to set up networks quickly, easily and without the hassle of physically running cables etc.

However wireless networks need to be secure from outside / unauthorised users otherwise people can use your network for their own malicious intentions. An example of this is people using your wireless connection to connect to the internet and download illegal content. As it is your internet connection it is your responsibility.

So how do you secure your wireless network?

Well there are several things you can do so here are some basic security steps:

TURN OFF SSID Broadcasting – Once you have all your required computers (wireless clients / devices) on your network, TURN OFF SSID broadcasting so that no one can see your wireless network.
Change the name of your SSID from default to something else. For example a SSID named Netgear easily identifies your network and its hardware.
Change default router username and passwords. Most routers have the same, default admin username and password. So all an intruder has to do is login to your router using the defaults and then lock you out.
Use MAC address filtering – set which devices can connect to your wireless network by their MAC address. Use ipconfig / all to identify your MAC address.
Use IP filtering or IP address reservations so that only those IP’s can access the network.
Use Port filtering / blocking to block ports you do not need open.
Use authentication – either PSK or EAP – DO NOT LEAVE AUTHENTICATION OPEN.
Use encryption to protect your data. WEP and WPA are 2 types of encryption however WPA is recommended.
Set logon hours so that people cannot access your network out of hours.
Use a wireless network analyser such as Netstumbler (free) to test your network.

Using the above wireless network security steps will help protect your wireless network from unauthorised use and prying eyes.

Computer Security Network, Secure, Wireless

1. Change the default passwords as most network devices have a pre-configured default password and these are easily found online.

2. Install a firewall directly onto your wireless devices (a host-based firewall). Attackers who directly intercept your wireless network may be able to by-pass your network firewall and so this does not offer sufficient protection.

3. Restrict access — only allow authorised users to access your network. Each piece of hardware connected to a network has a MAC (media access control) address. Restrict or allow access to your network by filtering MAC addresses. The MAC address is a unique identifier for networking hardware such as wireless network adapters. A hacker can capture details about a MAC address from your network and pretend to be that device to connect to your network. MAC filtering will still protect you from majority of the hackers. Find the MAC address for your network adapters on your devices by following these steps:

1. Go to Start > Run

2. Type command and press [Enter]

3. Type ipconfig /all in the command prompt window and press [Enter]

4. You can view the physical access address in the information displayed.

4. Check the user documentation to get specific information about the MAC Filtering process if you have any more queries.

5. Encrypt the data on your network. Encrypting the data would prevent anyone who might somehow be able to access your network from viewing your data.

6. Protect your SSID (Service Set Identifier — An SSID is the name of a WLAN). The SSID on wireless clients can be set either manually, by entering the SSID into the client network settings, or automatically, by leaving the SSID unspecified or blank. A network administrator often uses a public SSID that is set on the access point and broadcast to all wireless devices in range. You can disable the automatic SSID broadcast feature to improve network security.

For more detail on Motherboards log on to http://www.thinkdigit.com/

Computer Security Networks, Secure, Tips, Wireless

The reason why wireless networks are more vulnerable than wired networks is that because the data is transmitted through the broadcast radio technology that works on the same microwave radio band (2.4 gigahertz) as cordless phones, instead of a dedicated cable.

It is possible to be intercepted by hackers, especially if there is not a firewall installed because the networking transmissions are broadcast indiscriminately. Drive by hackers and casual intruders can pick up the radio signal 20 to 50 meters and as much as 500 meters if there is sensitive equipment. It is estimated that 30 percent of all wireless networks have already had a hacking attempt made, even though it is illegal.

Your wireless network can become contaminated with a virus, if another wireless computer taps into the network and has it, contaminating your server and the other computers on that network.

When wireless networks came out, they were more convenient and often a higher speed access than traditional wired networks. It soon became evident that they were easier to be compromised since multiple users were using the same broadcast signals. If a server is not secure, encrypted and firewall protected, it can cause data loss of confidential information and virus attacks that can make a system vulnerable to crashing.

Many government agencies are no longer using wireless networks because of the security issues. For most other usages, a wireless network is suitable, as long as it is firewall protected properly, but you may want to consider the additional security of a wired network, if you handle sensitive information.

The safest thing is to have an IT or network security audit done to evaluate the multiple computers on your network, whether wireless or wired, for security and firewall needs. Businesses that transmit data, store crucial customer information like credit cards and other confidential information need to be especially aware of the consequences, should the information fall into the wrong hands.

By having an IT security audit done on your system, you can discover any vulnerabilities and protect against them. Typically, they will do audits that involve external penetration tests and internal management tests to uncover any possible threats, intentional or by ignorance of protection on the part of users.

Not only can security be compromised through wireless networks that are not properly secured, but wired networks need to have proper security software and firewalls working on their server to assure protection, on an internal, physical basis.

An IT security audit will evaluate the environment of the server, whether wireless or wired and any weak links in the security including the physical location and access to the server and settings for anti-virus and firewall programs.

Wireless networks have gained in popularity due to the ease of installation, especially in older buildings and the cost is less to install than cabling a wired network. The chances of contamination of data, information loss and virus or hacking by intruders may not be worth the cost savings, due to the vulnerability of wireless systems.

Computer Security More, Networks, Than, Vulnerable, Wired, Wireless

Many people enjoy the flexibility of a wireless network and love the fact they can sit in their garden with their laptop and check their email. Whilst wireless networking is indeed a very useful technology it does come with its downsides. The truth is many people are not particularly tech savvy and will setup their wireless networking without implementing any wireless security, the same group of people are totally unaware of the massive threat to private data and their internet connections that arise from the no wireless security.

Having an unsecure network is like allowing someone to come into your house, plug a network cable into your router and start browsing the web as they please, you just wouldnt do it! Which is why you shouldnt leave a wireless network unsecure, it is inviting people to connect to it and do any of the following:

1: Download illegal content.
2: Use the connection for malicious activity
3: Intercept local traffic and have the ability to check what sites your visiting, your private data and even passwords.

This is just the beginning. There are many horror stories of peoples wireless networks being used and abused with criminal activities happening leaving the owner of the network responsible!

This is why wireless security is so important, if you leave your network open then your just asking for trouble, and you wont even know its happening! People can access your network from several houses down the street and you would be none the wiser.

So always implement Wireless Security, make sure that you are using a wireless key, preferably WPA or WPA2 as WEP is extremely vulnerable and can be cracked in a few minutes with freely available tools from the internet.

Computer Security Home, Network, Security, Wireless

Network Authentication Process

The process of a client associating and authenticating to an access point is standard. Should shared key authentication be selected at the client, there are additional packets sent confirming the keys authenticity.

The following describes EAP network authentication.

 1. Client sends probe to all access points

 2. Access point sends information frame with data rate etc

 3. Client selects nearest matching access point

 4. Client scans access point in order of 802.11a, 802.11b then 802.11g

 5. Data rate is selected

 6. Client associates to access point with SSID

 7. With EAP network authentication the client authenticates with RADIUS server 

Open Authentication

This type of security assigns a string to an access point or several access points defining a logical segmented wireless network known as a service set identifier (SSID). The client can’t associate with an access point unless it is configured with that SSID. Associating with the network is as easy as determining the SSID from any client on the network. The access point can be configured to not broadcast the SSID improving security somewhat. Most companies will implement static or dynamic keys to supplement security of SSID.

Static WEP keys

Configuring your client adapter with a static wired equivalency private (WEP) key improves the security of your wireless transmissions. The access point is configured with the same 40 bit or 128 bit WEP key and during association those encrypted keys are compared. The issue is hackers can intercept wireless packets and decode your WEP key.

Dynamic WEP keys (WPA)

The deployment of dynamic encrypted WEP keys per session strengthens security with a hash algorithm that generates new key pairs at specific intervals making spoofing much more difficult. The protocol standard includes 802.1x authentication methods with TKIP and MIC encryption. Authentication between the wireless client and authentication RADIUS server allows for dynamic administration of security. It should be mentioned that each authentication type will specify Windows platform support. An example is PEAP which requires Windows XP with service pack 2, Windows 2000 with SP4 or Windows 2003 at each client.

The 802.1x standard is an authentication standard with per user and per session encryption with these supported EAP types: EAP-TLS, LEAP, PEAP, EAP-FAST, EAP-TTLS and EAP-SIM. User network authentication credentials have nothing to do with the client computer configuration. Any loss of computer equipment doesn’t affect security. The encryption process is handled with TKIP an enhanced encryption standard improving WEP encryption with per packet key hashing (PPK), message integrity checking (MIC) and broadcast key rotation. The protocol uses 128 bit keys for encrypting data and 64 bit keys for authentication. The transmitter adds some bytes or MIC to a packet before encrypting it and the receiver decrypts and verifies the MIC. Broadcast key rotation will rotate unicast and broadcast keys at specific intervals. Fast reconnect is a WPA feature that is available allowing employees to roam without having to re-authenticate with the RADIUS server should they change floors or rooms. The client username and password is cached with the RADIUS server for a specified period.

EAP-FAST

 • Implements symmetric key algorithm to build secure tunnel

 • Client and RADIUS server side mutual authentication

 • Client sends username and password credential in secure tunnel

EAP-TLS

 • SSL v3 builds an encrypted tunnel

 • Client side and RADIUS server side assigned PKI certificates with mutual  authentication

 • Dynamic per client per session keys used to encrypt data

Protected EAP (PEAP)

 • Implemented at Windows clients with any EAP authentication method

 • Server side RADIUS server authentication with root CA digital certificate

 • Client side authentication with RADIUS server from Microsoft MS-CHAP v2 client with  username and   password encrypted credentials

Wireless Client EAP Network Authentication Process

 1. Client associates with access point

 2. Access point allows 802.1x traffic

 3. Client authenticates RADIUS server certificate

 4. RADIUS server sends username with password encrypted request to client

 5. Client sends username with password encrypted to RADIUS server

 6. RADIUS server and client derive WEP key. RADIUS server sends WEP key to  access point

 7. Access point encrypts 128 bit broadcast key with that dynamic session key. Sends to client.

 8. Client and access point use session key to encrypt/decrypt packets

WPA-PSK

WPA pre-shared keys use some features of static WEP keys and dynamic key protocols. Each client and access point is configured with a specific static passcode. The passcode generates keys that TKIP uses to encrypt data per session. The passcode should be at least 27 characters to defend against dictionary attacks.  

WPA2

The WPA2 standard implements the WPA authentication methods with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This encryption method is deployed with government implementations etc. where the most stringent security must be implemented.

Application Layer Passcode

SSG uses a passcode at the application layer. Client can’t authenticate unless they know the passcode. SSG is implemented in public places such as hotels where the client pays for the password allowing access to the network.

VLAN Assignments

As noted companies will deploy access points with SSID assignments that define logical wireless networks. The access point SSID will then be mapped to a VLAN on the wired network that segments traffic from specific groups as they would with the conventional wired network. Wireless deployments with multiple VLANs will then configure 802.1q or ISL Trunking between access point and Ethernet switch.   

Miscellaneous Settings

Turn Microsoft File Sharing OFF Implement AntiVirus Software and Firewall Install your company VPN client Turn OFF Auto Connect to any wireless network Never use AdHoc Mode – this allows unknown laptops to connect Avoid signal overrun with a good site survey Use minimal transmit power setting

Anti Theft Option

Some access points have an anti theft option available using padlock and cabling to secure equipment while deployed in public places. This is a key feature with public implementations where access points can be stolen or there is some reason why they must be mounted below the ceiling.

Security Attacks

• Wireless packet sniffers will captures, decode and analyzes packets sent between the client computer and access points. The purpose is to decode security information.  

• Dictionary attacks attempt to determine the decryption key configured on the wireless network using a list or dictionary with thousands of typical passcode phrases. The hacker captures information from the authentication process and scans each dictionary word against the password until a match is found. 

• The specific mode assigned each wireless client affects security. Ad Hoc mode is the least  secure option with no access point authentication. Each computer on the network can send information to an Ad Hoc neighbor computer. Select infrastructure mode where available.

• IP spoofing is a common network attack involving faking or replacing the source IP address of each packet. The network device thinks its communicating with an approved computer. 

• SNMP is sometimes a source of compromised security. Implement SNMP v3 with complex community strings.

Cisco Wireless Network Design Guide available at amazon.com and eBookmall.com

Shaun Hummel is an author of various technical books and has a web site focused on information technology job search solutions and certifications.

http://www.networkjobsolutions.com

Computer Security Network, Security, Wireless

If you are shifting to a more secured housing system, but do not want to disturb the existing wiring in your house, the best choice would be to go for a home wireless network security system; a home wireless network security system basically works the same way as a wired one does, and it has the same efficiency as well.

When it comes to installing a home wireless network security, things are just so easy compared to a wired one. Such a wireless system uses window and door contacts and motion sensors that run on radio wave frequencies.

What Actually Happens in a Wireless Network?
Besides that, the typical security systems for entering your house such as keypads at your door exist as well. You basically have to enter the pass codes which will open the door for you, as well as to deactivate the alarm when some intrusion takes place. The keypad is connected to the control unit wirelessly, and the processing is done there.

Just like how a wired security system works, this home wireless network security also has monitoring station which will activate the alarm when there seems to be any intentional break in, and it basically wakes up everyone. It is directly connected to the power back up system at the same time, so if the trespasser or robber shuts the system down, the back up system will kick in immediately alongside the protection alarm and surveillance system being on extra alert.

Setting up
Basically home wireless network security kits can be found in almost any security service store or even at departmental stores these days. Or alternatively you can also order it online from certain security service companies. These kits are very easy to set up and user friendly. You can simply buy it off the shelf, and go back home and set up the whole home wireless network security system by yourself. When buying from professional security service stores, you can also ask for consultation on the right placing of the sensors and alarms, so that the work at the best level.

One good thing about a home wireless network security system is that it is portable, or simply called mobile. You can easily take the system with you if you move, for lets say you want to switch the system from your house to you office; there’s no hassle at all. But one bad thing about this system is that it runs on batteries, so you always need to check on them to make sure everything is working fine.

Computer Security Convenience, Home, Network, Plus, Safety, Security, Wireless