Worried about Wi-Fi security?

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acquired its own name, "wardriving." And some industry experts point out that the day of sitting outside someone's house to steal their bandwidth is being outdated by signal-boosting technology that lets individuals get onto a network that's miles away.

"A signal enhancer available at your local RadioShack can give someone access from as far as 50 miles away," said Drew Carter, product manager for strategic opportunities at security software maker McAfee. "It's not just your neighbors that you need to worry about anymore."

In fact, extending the range of wireless technologies is a popular pastime of hobbyists and researchers. The 300-foot range of most wireless networking technology for the home is set more by government and manufacturer decree than by limits to the technology. The University of California at San Diego's High-Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN) has extended Wi-Fi to 72 miles using power amplification and improved antennas. And hackers at the Defcon conference created a wireless sniper rifle that could target Bluetooth phones a half mile away, extending that technology's range almost 100-fold.

Help on the way
Because of the growing threat, everyone from third-party software vendors to networking-gear makers is developing technologies to try to help consumers cover their backs.

Security software maker McAfee is developing a free diagnostic tool that lets people survey their computer using a Web interface to determine the security of the network the machine is registered on. Dubbed McAfee Wi-Fi Scan, the application is already undergoing beta testing and is set for release in mid-February.

Five tips for clean air

Easy ways to improve protection for your wireless network.

Turn on wireless router firewall software

Use firewall software for individual devices on a network

Use third-party software to test for network vulnerabilities

Use monitoring software to detect potential intrusions

Change passwords after allowing access to someone new

Source: CNET News.com research

"Even if you can successfully deploy the security tools that come with wireless hardware, I think a lot of users get a false sense of protection from it," Carter said. "People think a simple firewall secures all their communications, while the reality is that though your connection in and out of that device is partially secured by the firewall, the actual connection between that device and your computer...may not be secured at all."

Hardware manufacturers are taking a different route. Earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Linksys, a division of networking giant Cisco Systems, said it was launching a joint effort with chipmaker Broadcom and IT behemoth Hewlett-Packard to create a push-button security system for home wireless products. The system, to be called SecureEasySetup, promises to provide coverage that meets the Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA, industry standard for security.

Jeff Abramowitz, senior director of wireless LAN marketing at Broadcom, said SecureEasySetup represents the kind of basic security system consumers can understand easily.

"The technology allows you to set up a very secure Wi-Fi network without having to know any of the technical ins and outs," Abramowitz said. "All you do is hit a button on your router or Wi-Fi access point and push a corresponding button on a PC or another device, and they find each other and establish a secure connection."

Linksys has agreed to start building SecureEasyStep into its networking products by the beginning of 2005. HP will add the tool to certain notebook and desktop PCs and to some of its networked printers. Abramowitz said a number of other well-known technology companies are also working with the application.

In one less-conventional approach, Force Field Wireless has begun marketing latex house paint it claims will block wireless radio waves from escaping through the walls of a home. Known as DefendAir, the paint is laced with bits of copper and aluminum that help form an electromagnetic shield around your house, Force Field said. The paint, which sells for $69 a gallon, is certified nontoxic and lead free, and comes only in one color--gray.

Those products promise a safer future. The problem right now is those people who remain oblivious to the existing vulnerabilities in their systems. Analysts point out that there are a number of ways to secure these, from making sure basic firewall technology in the wireless router is installed to buying as many components as possible from the same vendor. There are also more complicated measures home network owners can take, such as swapping out the default service set identifier, or SSID, number--a form of unique identification for each wireless local area network--for the devices and making sure security systems have been updated to meet all the latest wireless specifications.

Jonathan Penn, an analyst at Forrester Research, feels that in requiring so much attention to be made secure, wireless networks will remain something of a hassle for consumers until more effective, easy-to-use methods of self-defense are created. He argues that consumers should not have to face the challenge of dealing with technology defaults and keeping up with industry standards.

"If the gear manufacturers, Internet service providers and software makers seriously want people to come online, they can't make it so hard on their customers," Penn said. "People are being told that they need to worry about antivirus software, antispam tools, wireless security and all sorts of malicious threats online. At a certain point, unless things become easier to handle, some people might just say, 'Forget it.'"

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