How safe is my network ?

[kyutip]

I'm using Belkin Wireless Router.
I have 2 computers & 1 Notebook connected to it.
The 2 comps use Cat5 to connect to the Router while the notebook use iPAQ Wireless PCMCIA with 128-bit WEP.
My question is can anyone hack into my network (easily) ?
I have some share folders on all comps, nothing important, just MP3's.
I don't really care about that.
What I care about is people with wireless connection getting in.
Can they get into my 2 comp that use Cat5 ? or just the wireless one ?
Will it be safer if I enable MAC address filter ?
I still feel iffy about wireless connection security.

TIA

 

[rw120555]

Anything that your laptop can get to, somebody else's laptop can get to too, if they can connect to your network. WEP and/or Mac address filtering will enhance your security. A determined attacker could get through, but most of us don't have to worry that much about it; the bigger fear is the casual passerby who gets onto a totally unprotected network. There are an incredible number of wireless networks that are totally unsecured and easy to get to.

You can also be careful in your file sharing. Limit access to read only, and don't share really sensitive stuff like credit card info and personal documents. You can use passwords and other security measures if so inclined.

I like to use the hidden share method. Instead of calling a shared folder Mydocs, share it as Mydocs$. With the $ sign, it won't show up when somebody browses your network; they have to type in the name manually to get to it, so if they don't know the name they can't get it. (For that matter, they won't even know it exists unless someone has told them.)

For more info, see Windows XP Simple File Sharing.

 

[kyutip]

Thanks for the advice, I feel a bit better & safer now.

I will make sure that the share folder is read only and with the "$" sign.
No sensitive data whatsoever, just mp3's.

So in short, I assume WEP (128-bit) alone is enough to prevent casual wireless hijacking and even more secure with MAC filtering.
Even if someone manage to get in, all they can access are shared folders and nothing else ?

btw, with the hidden share, will my comp be able to see it directly or I have to search for it too ?

 

[rw120555]

With hidden share, it won't show up when you browse network neighborhood. You'll have to type the name in to access it. For conveninece, you might initially share as MyMp3, create a shortcut to MyMp3 on another machine, and then change both the share name and the shortcut properties to MyMp3$. As for your overall safety, I don't want to make any sweeping promises, but if somebody does go after you they'll at least have to know a bit more than your typical casual user does. The best defense most of us have is that nobody cares that much about our stuff, plus why waste a lot of time on you when there are so many other people that are easy pickings.

But, the paranoid can also use the stronger security techniques availabe in XP Pro file sharing -- the article on simple file sharing includes a link to it.