{SearchText}Network security

Questions answered in this section:

• Is the network secure?
• Do we use encryption?
• So nothing's secure then?
• So what's the bottom line?

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Is the network secure?

A wireless network differs from a cable based network in that data is sent over the air rather than through cables. In both cases it is possible for somebody with the right equipment to tap in to the network. With a cable based network they need to physically attach their "snooping device" to the telephone line. With a wireless network, it is possible to gather data much more discreetly. In theory a "snooper" could sit outside your house, in their car perhaps, gathering data using their laptop and a Wi-Fi card.

Do we use encryption?

Yes and no. Data is sent to and from your computer over the air via a PPPoE (point to point protocol over ethernet) tunnel to one of our internet gateways. Your password is always sent encrypted and this tunnel supports encryption, so if you specify the use of encryption on your connection (see appropriate section), your data is scrambled between your computer and our internet gateway- 128bit encryption in fact. This makes wireless hacking of the network very difficult! However, once your data leaves the gateway it is sent unencypted across the public internet, unless you use one of the methods detailed below. Remember NEVER trust the internet for sensitive data transmittal unless you use any of the methods at the bottom of this page! SVW can not accept any responsiblity for compromise of your data; it's up to you... just like dial-up, regular ADSL etc.

So nothing's secure then?

That's not strictly true. There are other security protocols in place, and there are some things you can do to make sure your data is secure.

One widely used security protocol used on the internet is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). This protocol provides end-to-end security (i.e. from your PC to the organisation you are connected to) and is used for internet banking and most on-line shopping web sites (e.g. Amazon, WH Smiths, Argos etc.). This works regardless of how you are connected to the internet. When you transmit data it is immediately encrypted by your browser before leaving your PC. It can only be decrypted at the other end by the bank or shopping web site. You know if you're on one of these connections by the address bar starting https:// and/or the padlock at the bottom right of your browser. Put simply SSL encryption works accross any internet connection in a secure way.

There are also email service providers out there who can supply a secure email service. Companies such as MuteMail can provide SSL based connections to their email servers. You could also install a private encryption package such as PGP. This would however mean that people to whom you are sending email also need PGP to decrypt the messages.

So what's the bottom line?

The following table should help...

Traffic Type	Secure?
General web traffic	No.
Internet banking and e-commerce	Yes if SSL is in use. Look for the padlock () in your browser's status bar. ALL BANKS AND MAJOR RETAILERS USE SSL.
E-mail	No, unless you are subsribed to a secure email service or you are using your own security package such as PGP.
Chat, such as MSN Messenger	No, make sure you follow your chat providers warning on not giving out your password or personal details to anyone. Also remeber to keep your children safe!

You should treat the wireless network as an extension of the internet rather than a fully secured network i.e. treat everything that goes out of your computer as a potentially compromised unless you have implemented one of the options above

(thanks to digital parish)

Last update Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:24 PM