Is your home wireless network protected from cyber crime?

Cyber crime does not just bother a country or a government. It is a menace, a danger that keeps lurking around the corner and if you do not secure your wireless network, you can easily fall prey to it.

Hackers are highly proactive. They do a recce of a town or neighborhood in order to find every open wireless network. This practice is called Wardriving. It is done to seek access to free Internet wherever possible. The hackers remain on the lookout for an open network so that they can carry out their evil designs like identity theft.

On finding an open network, a seasoned cyber criminal can wreak havoc. He can distribute pornographic material, exploit your personal information, and launch attacks on other systems and networks.

People who have wireless network at home need to be cautious. Going online as quickly as possible should not be their only goal. They must realize that if they accept default settings and leave their network open, they will send an invitation to cyber terrorists and become a potential victim of cyber crime.

There are some precautionary steps that you can take in order to keep your home wireless network protected. If you take all the due precautions, you may end up rendering a great service to your entire community. The more layers of security you have, the less prone your network will be to cyber crime.

Some of the precautionary measures that can be taken are:
- Refrain from using your own name, address or combinations while assigning a name to your network.
- Change your default user name and password.
- Keep your operating system updated.
- Always have a security software installed on your PC. If the installed antivirus has expired or is nearing expiry, get it renewed.
- Turn your router off if you are away for long.