Safer Web - Fact or Fiction?

esuhl

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Home user key actions .
Router not displaying / broadcasting router name .

There's really no benefit in hiding your SSID. It gets broadcast anyway; there's no way round it, so it's TRIVIALLY easy to identify.

Using encryption (e.g. WPA2) is much more important. It doesn't matter whether someone can see your network if they can't authenticate.

A long password using non-dictionary words should help too.

Strider590

esuhl wrote: »

There's really no benefit in hiding your SSID. It gets broadcast anyway; there's no way round it, so it's TRIVIALLY easy to identify.

Using encryption (e.g. WPA2) is much more important. It doesn't matter whether someone can see your network if they can't authenticate.

A long password using non-dictionary words should help too.

To add to this, anyone with the knowledge to do a wireless hack is going to know how to ID hidden SSIDs.
Just as anyone trying to access illegal material online, is going to know how to bypass web filtering/censorship.

RumRat

esuhl wrote: »

Thanks for the correction, even if it contains no convincing information to refute the previous poster's assertions.

Is there any genuine reason to think that the news stories claiming that certain smart TVs capture and transmit what you say back to third parties are fabricated?

Or is this just another part of your campaign to promote "information promiscuity"?

Well spotted......You'll go far....;)

paddyrg

The sending all audio back to base thing was just a symptom of the general lack of conscious security design with smart devices/IoT. How often do you update the firmware on your TV? Is there even a regular patching schedule? Is it even still within patching period? And does your manufacturer give enough of a whatsit to even bother patching as by this point, they've sold the TV and are getting on with the next round of things to sell. It's a complete computer without any segregation on most home networks.

kwikbreaks

Hiding the SSID on your 3G MiFi is great for keeping non-tech savvy grandchildren from chewing all your months data in an evening.

esuhl

Going back to the original post...

donny-gal wrote: »

Just been reading up on this, and know and understand many things are kept to aid advertising on the web, though I really think other than that someone following me would be bored out of their minds within an hour or two.

Companies tracking you don't employ people to sit in front of a computer watching what you're doing in real time. They use algorithms to grab as much information as they can about you. A few hours of your browsing would be very useful to advertisers.

donny-gal wrote: »

Is there anything that can actually protect you at the router point rather than each individual item, for such as Smart TV's, Sky, etc are still not protected.

What exactly do you want protection from?

If you want to avoid your wifi access point from being hacked, then choosing the most secure encryption method (e.g. WPA2 over WPA), using an SSID that doesn't identify you or your property, and a long password would help.

To protect your router from being hacked, you should also change the password on the web interface.

You may also want to check if you have any remote access options enabled in the router and disable these. On my router, I have the option to log in remotely. My old router had a USB port and by default allowed FTP access from the internet.

The router will have a firmware firewall built-in. There's probably nothing you can change to make it "safer", but if you have devices that only need LAN access, or that need Internet access, but no access to devices on the LAN, you could add firewall rules to block them.

Universal Plug 'n' Play (UPnP) is a feature that allows ports to be opened automatically on your router, which is a MASSIVE security vulnerability. It was never designed to be used over the Internet. Instead of using UPnP, you could set up port forwarding, if you need to. The chances are that you won't unless you have set-top boxes, games consoles, or any software that acts as a server. If you only occasionally need to use software that requires port forwarding, it's worth closing the ports when not in use.

http://www.howtogeek.com/122487/htg-explains-is-upnp-a-security-risk/

LHW99

Or stick with a cathode ray tube TV - preferably black & white - that sits on a table and doesn't talk to anything else around.......

pappa_golf

LHW99 wrote: »

Or stick with a cathode ray tube TV - preferably black & white - that sits on a table and doesn't talk to anything else around.......

and go and exchange your batteries every Saturday morning at radio rentals

esuhl

LHW99 wrote: »

Or stick with a cathode ray tube TV - preferably black & white - that sits on a table and doesn't talk to anything else around.......

You're right. Leave your doors unlocked when you leave the house too. No point getting paranoid, eh? :cool:

RumRat

esuhl wrote: »

You're right. Leave your doors unlocked when you leave the house too. No point getting paranoid, eh? :cool:

You are right......No point, whatsoever.
Awareness and common sense, yes.............Paranoia No...