Security in a Mobile World part-3 Posted

Today I posted the third part of my four part article “Security in a Mobile World”.   This article part, the prior 2 parts, and the remaining  part will continue to be published at Mobility Today.

It is a well known fact that most every Laptop user could stand to improve their privacy (and overall security) when utilizing their PC for everyday use. This installment is geared towards getting you started on the right path towards accomplishing this goal.

If you would like to read the entire 3rd part of this article, click here.

Security in a Mobile World part-2 Posted

Today I posted the second part of my four part article “Security in a Mobile World”.   This article part, the prior part, and the remaining 2 parts will continue to be published at Mobility Today.

Public wireless hotspots are, by definition, meant to be public, and so it goes that private hotspots are meant to be private, regardless as to whether or not the hotspot is encrypted to keep unauthorized users out. This is the same as recognizing the difference between a grocery store and a residential home. A grocery store is open to the public, and you can walk through the door and browse among the aisles to your hearts content. Likewise, it is generally understood that it is completely unacceptable for someone to just walk into another person’s home unannounced. It needs to be understood and accepted that a private Wi-Fi LAN is essentially an extension of someone’s personal property.

If you would like to read the entire 2nd part of this article, click here.

Security in a Mobile World part-1 Posted

Today I posted the first part of my four part article “Security in a Mobile World”.   This article part, and the following 3 parts will continue to be published at Mobility Today.

Security is a multilevel concept, in both the mindset and it’s practical application. The mindset refers to keeping the concepts of security at the front of your mind while you go through your daily activities. The practical application is Security itself. For now, I will only attempt to touch on the important levels (under the heading of Practical Application) that Mobile Users need to consider in today’s environments. Later I will touch on the mindset aspect of Security.

If you would like to read the entire 1st part of this article, click here.

Network Settings: "Work" compared to "The Internet"

To obtain the most functionality out of your iPAQ, we suggest you configure your settings to reflect “WORK” instead of “The Internet” whenever possible, as a lot of methods of connectivity are NOT supported under “The Internet” (see table below).

Function/Ability Work The Internet
         
         
VPN     x-mark
ActiveSync     x-mark 
Socks/Winsock   (Both)   x-mark 
Host Access   WINS Style (no periods)   DNS Style (periods)
Proxy Server     x-mark 

 

I would whole-heartedly suggest that EVERYONE set their connection to WORK (aka “My Work Network”), as it offers so much more than THE INTERNET. Here’s how to do it:

1.) Go to START > SETTINGS > CONNECTIONS > ADVANCED (tab). Choose “Select Networks” button and make sure BOTH of the entries on the subsequent page are set to “My Work Network”. Click “OK”.
2.) Then, click on the “Network Card” button, and then choose the Network Adapters tab (if it’s not already the default tab). Make sure this selection also refers to “My network card connections to:” and then the choice “Work”. Click on OK.
3.) Then the last verification: Go to START > SETTINGS > CONNECTIONS, then on the (default) Tasks Tab, choose SET UP MY PROXY SERVER option and make sure the top option “This network connects to the Internet” is checked, and that the 2nd option is UNCHECKED!

You’re done!

The Different WiFi Authentication & Encryption Standards

WEP:
The 40-bit and 64-bit Question:
Wired Equivalent Privacy uses a streaming cipher, which combines the use of a 40-bit WEP Key with a 24-bit random number (known as the Initialization Vector, or IV ) generated by the Router/AP to encrypt the data. You can think of the IV as simply a header for the key. So, for a 64-bit Cipher, the user actually contributes a key length is 40-bits (5 bytes or 10HEX characters), with an additional 24-bits (3 bytes) of system-generated data, for a total of 64-bits (8 bytes) total.

* If you are entering your Key in HEX format, your Key should be 10 HEX characters long.

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