Conclusion: How Security Applies

In dealing with radio signals, you must be wary that you no longer have
the “security” or physicality of a hardwired line. When cellular phones
came out, the biggest problem was that people who had scanners could
listen into private conversations. This made wired phones essential for
private communication. In order to tap a wired phone, or a wired LAN
for that matter, you would have to have a packet sniffer directly
attached to the wire listening to the network traffic.
Wireless networks can be “sniffed” from any portable computer with a
wireless networking card. This is why encryption is so important. If
someone is interested in listening into your private network traffic, you
should at the very least make it extremely hard for them to decode your
transmission. Most hackers won’t keep trying if they can move onto an
easier target.
You should note that you cannot rely entirely on wireless encryption
methods because they can be compromised given a reasonable amount of
time. If you are concerned about security, use the highest-strength
encryption available to your system (usually 128-bit). Make it a point to
change the encryption key as often as possible (at least once every week

or two) just to make it difficult for someone “sniffing” your wireless network
in an effort to decode your encryption key and log onto your WLAN
to steal, corrupt, or damage your mission-critical data.
Finally, set your router to accept only incoming connections from
wireless network cards that you trust within your organization. Don’t
leave yourself vulnerable to hackers trying out a “parking lot attack” on
your system. This is when someone sits outside your building (in a car)
either on the street or next to a window right on the fringe of reception.
Hackers then attempt to compromise your systems by logging into your
WLAN as though they were an actual employee within the confines of
your building. If you tell your router to screen out unknown network
cards (each card has its own unique identifier called a MAC address)
then you add at least another layer of protection to help keep your network
isolated from security breaches so your WLAN won’t get hacked!