Tech Tips of the Week: Wi-Fi Security and Protecting Passwords

From the IT Group:

Our friends from Sans Institute want to help remind you about the importance of protecting your passwords.

Passwords have become a critical part of our daily lives. Passwords are used to log on to your computer, read your e-mail, update your finances, shop online, and even watch movies. It seems doing almost anything on the Internet requires some type of password. As a result, your passwords represent the key to your information.

Cyber criminals know this. If they can obtain your passwords, they can have access to your bank accounts, read your e-mail, steal your money, sell your information, or even steal your identiyy. To help protect yourself, we cover key steps to protecting your passwords in this newsletter.

Our friends from Sans Institute also want to help you understand Wi-Fi Security.

When the Internet became popular, the only way to connect to it was physically. This meant you had to manually use a cable (often an Ethernet cable) and connect it to your computer or laptop. This cable then connected you to a local network, which connected to the Internet. While inconvenient for the end user, physical cables helped protect our organization. They allowed us to control who had access to our networks.

However, soon there became a desire for a simpler and faster way to connect to networks, one that did not require physical cables. As a result, a new wireless technology was created, called IEEE 802.11,or more commonly known as Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi networks come with their own unique risks. This newsletter covers those risks and how to avoid them.