How to Secure a Wi-Fi Connection
Many people think that the firewall built into your router will protect you from Wi-Fi snoops. It won't. It will stop someone from hacking into your network from the Web, but it's not designed to safeguard the Wi-Fi signal itself. So you've got to use encryption.
There are a few standards out there. The best known is called WEP, but it's old and ways to hack it are well known to the black hats. If that's all your router supports, use 128-bit WEP keys. Much better though, is to buy a router that supports the newer WPA or WPA2 protocols. Use a strong password, please.
But neither WEP nor WPA will work if you don't turn them on. By default, security is turned off on most routers.
Suppose you and your laptop or netbook are at an Internet cafe. Since you're using someone else's network, there's no way to know if it's secure. I try not to conduct financial transactions, particularly online banking, when I'm on a public network. Sometimes, though, it's unavoidable.
At the very least, be sure your file sharing options are turned off. And be certain that the hotspot is a legitimate one. When you're done, be sure you log out; and if you're working on a public computer, be absolutely certain that you've closed the browser.
