Is my wireless connection secure?

LadyDee

I've dropped my tablet and the screen is badly cracked. I'm replacing it with a new one and was going to offer this on Freecycle for someone to take who likes taking things apart and perhaps fixing, who knows? Anyway, my wireless internet was enabled on the tablet and I can't access the tablet (other than switching it on and off) to remove my wireless details. It won't respond to anything other than the on/off switch. Should I just smash it up completely and dispose of it or won't it matter that my wireless connection is enabled on it - in the event of someone being able to fix the tablet?

rmg1

The easiest thing to do (if possible), would be to change the wireless password.
That way it won't matter if fixes the tablet as the password won't work.
You will have to update it on all other devices though.

kwikbreaks

As above. There are apps that would retrieve the password.

If you sold it on eBay the chances of the buyer bothering to travel even in they knew your address would be pretty slim and busted tablets and phones do sell. If you put it on freecycle the chances are whoever takes it will just stick it on ebay.

LadyDee

Thank you both.

molerat

Another security measure is to add mac filtering then only specified devices can log on to the router.

LadyDee

Ooooh - don't get technical:)

Ximian

molerat wrote: »

Another security measure is to add mac filtering then only specified devices can log on to the router.

MAC address filtering isn't a very good security measure for preventing access to your network. The best security measures are to ensure that the strongest encryption protocol is enabled such as WPA2, WPS disabled (if available), and a long password/passphrase that isn't based on a dictionary word and contains special characters and a mixture of upper and lower case etc..

It's not very practical to have an extremely long password on every device (unless you're paranoid or want the highest security) but a passphrase that is personal to you is better, for example:
I'mAMoneySavingExpertL4dyD33!

Lumstorm

Mac address filtering is not a security measure as the mac address is easily spoofed and it can even considered bad because it forces somebody to spoof a listed mac and that can make intrusions harder to spot.

As Xiamian says WPA2 and WPS disabled is better but your passphrase should be random letters and numbers upper case and lower case with no dictionary words.