Is it me, or does it seem like people are really paranoid these days? First we have people concerned about the security of their Wi-Fi signal. Here they are, more than likely running a copy of XP that has still not been patched with SP2, sending out really personal e-mail with credit card information to who knows who, yet they are freaking out about the prospect of someone ‘cracking their encryption’ and using their wireless Internet to download music.

Look, let me clue everyone in on a little secret. Unless you are a target of some sort of bizarre sting operation, no one is going to bother trying to crack your WEP encryption. Too many open ones to choose from! Besides, if they are really that concerned, maybe they ought to understand that once the data is sent off on that unsecured path - it’s already too late.

Tech stories from hell-

My favorite has to be the tech that spends an hour talking about the dangers of not keeping your antivirus up to date, yet refrains from disabling HTML messages in their client’s e-mail program.

Another time, I heard about this ‘person’ who told their client that so long as they use Norton Firewall, they don’t need to worry about security threats! Let me count the ways this was a mind-blowing stupid thing to share; First, as it turned out the client went out and bought the firewall only - no anti-virus. Since System Works was not mentioned, they just made their best guess apparently.

Second, that firewall is only as secure as the OS it is installed on. If you are running a system that is still waiting to have the first SP installed, forget about SP2… well then, that firewall is not going to do much for ya in the first place.

And third, Norton’s Internet Security programs are crap. What was once outstanding software, is not to be trusted any longer in my opinion. Don’t take my word for it, just do some Web searches for security problems with the Symantec firewall. And even if it was secure, I have been called out to more homes to ‘fix’ a default install of this POS than I’d care to remember.

So, the next time your client expresses concerns over their wireless connection. Lock down their MAC address(s), enable the encryption and give them some help understanding what’s really important. You know, phishing, viruses and spyware. Besides, if they are already expressing an interest in learning something new. Who are we to turn them down a path of complacency?

[tags]wifi,encryption,wi-fi,internet security,wireless security[/tags]