Wireless Internet access is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it gives freedom to computers (mainly laptops) to no longer be tied to a wired router. For home users, this means the router can be setup in one area of the house and the user can be in another. The curse is that being wireless means your Internet access is being transmitted and potentially infiltrated.

Many people are turning to wireless networks because of the freedom it provides. Unfortunately, many are not considering the danger of using a wireless network and not taking simple security measures to protect their Internet connection and themselves.

Security Misconception
It is a misconception among too many home wireless Internet users that have a wireless router, that feel activating the security features is unnecessary. They underestimate people who desire to take advantage of unsecured wireless networks. The thought is only companies or commerce organizations are at risk but the truth is, home users are the real targets because of this misconception.

Common Access
Anyone can pick up wireless networks especially if they are unsecured. So a common illegal practice by unscrupulous people, is to cruise neighborhoods to find unsecured networks and use it to either commit illegal activities or abuse your connection. A worst case scenario that has been known to happen involves pedophiles who search for child pornography through unsecured wireless networks. They are completely hidden from authorities because the IP address that is recorded online is the wireless network router and not the individual computer used.

Of course, this is a worst case scenario and a rare occurrence. But at the very least, even if they are not doing anything illegal online, they are taking valuable bandwidth from your service that you are paying for. Bottom line is that wireless Internet security should be taken seriously.

What To Do To Protect Yourself
If you use a wireless router for your Internet access it should have an option to activate security known as WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption. This is absolutely the basic thing you can do to protect yourself and your wireless network. Most will have either 64-bit encryption or 128-bit encryption. Obviously the 128-bit will have better encryption then the 64-bit but it does slow down connection performance. For most users, 64-bit would be sufficient.

Another added measure is to set your wireless router to not transmit your SSID. So anyone looking for open signals will not register your network.

Again, this is the most basic things you can do so it will stop the majority of potential wireless access violators but may not be effective against more determined and experienced hackers.

Simple Steps for Prevention
So by following these simple steps, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will never have an intruder to your network, but rather it is a preventative measure against them. It is similar to getting childhood shots to prevent future ailments. It doesn't necessarily mean that there will never be a problem but you reduced the chances that there will be.