In
this tutorial I am going to explain in a very brief way what is “ Packet Sniffing”
and how to protect yourself from sniffing attack.
Sniffing
is the most common way to attack wireless network. It is the method of
capturing packets going through the network. Once a hacker gain access to
wireless network he can intercept private information going through a network
such as usernames, passwords, IM conversations, and e-mails by using packet
sniffer, a software for sniffing packet.
Without security measures and controls in place,
your data might be subjected to an attack so it is very important to know how
to protect yourself from packet sniffing.
Here
I have given some tips to protect yourself from sniffing
attack.
Follow
the tips:-
1.
Change your routers default password and make sure you have WPA 2 encryption
enabled. If your router doesn’t have a WPA 2 option, use WPA. WPA 2 is the most
secured wireless encryption protocol. Most wireless routers for home
networks support both WPA and WPA2.
2.
Use a long secure password for your router. Include numbers, lowercase letters,
uppercase letters and other symbols. The more obscure the better.
3.
Make sure your router has the option to not broadcast your SSID enabled. This
will prevent some programs like Net Stumbler from locating your wireless
network.
4.
Use MAC filtering on your router. Every wireless card and wireless adapter has
a MAC address. By choosing to allow only your MAC addresses onto the router, can
prevent your network from connecting others computer.
5.
To prevent packet sniffing attacks from affecting you, make sure the important
sites you use, like banks, use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. You can
tell if the site has SSL enabled if the URL begins with https instead of http or
you can install https anywhere add-on in your browser. This add-on will add
https automatically on every sites you visit.
6.
In cafés or other hotspots where internet is free, packet sniffing is very
common. To avoid being affected use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to
encrypt the data you send across the internet.
I hope
now you have understand what is sniffing attack and how to protect your network
from hackers and wireless hacking.
cool
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