Tenable Nessus 3 landed top one on the Top 100 Network Security Tools survey conducted by Insecure.org. Because the survey for the years 2000 and 2003 were successes, they pushed another survey last 2006 with about 3, 243 respondents. Insecure.Org came up with 100 tool list, subdividing the list into categories. The respondents listed commercial and open source network security tools, regardless of the platform where the tool is allowed to run.

Top-listed Nessus is a premiere open source tool for vulnerability assessments. It natively works on different platforms like OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, OS X and Windows. It is architected to have a GTK graphical user interface.

• Change the default administrator usernames and passwords. Router manufacturers set a default username and password as an access protection. However, these sets of default username and passwords are of simple logins vulnerable to Internet hackers. To ensure utmost login secrecy, change the default immediately.
• Activate compatible WPA and/or WEP Encryption. All wireless fidelity equipment have support for a form of encryption. Encryption is a technology that makes messages unreadable by humans when you sent it over a network, may it be LAN or wireless. Of course, you’d want to have the strongest encryption that is available for you to use with the wireless network you have.

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• Change default SSID. SSID is a network that is used by all routers and access points. As for the logins, manufacturers also set default SSID for their products. Important point to notice is that when a network is using a default SSID, it is consider right away being a network configured poorly. Internet hackers are more likely to attack these networks.
• Deactivate SSID Broadcast. A router or an access point typically broadcasts SSID (network name) over at regular time intervals. Since SSID Broadcast feature was designed to cater roaming Wi-Fi clients (i.e mobile hotspots), there is not a necessity to enable this feature in a home network.

Let us admit it: many wireless home connections have network security systems that are inappropriately secured. This is quite understandable because not all are well informed with the risks of either unsecured network system or the time to take setting up a decent security system. Because of unintelligent set up of wireless network, different risks and security problems arise. The Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity networking products of today’s time actually add up to the problem because configuration of its security features consumes and never intuitive.
To help you people who are not so into technical things, we are posting some tips that you can use to improve the quality of security of your wireless network at home. Watch out for next post containing the tips.

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To check if your computer has been turned to a zombie, there are available test sites you can find on the net. But you don’t just trust any site, you have to be somewhat picky on the test site that you will choose. Take this general rule: do not rely completely on sites that are provided by some company that is offering you firewall software products because obviously the findings will be bias: they would tell you to purchase their product because that is what they wanted from you.

After installing a reliable and trusted personal firewall, make sure that it is configured correctly. Then test it to ensure that the application is working purposely.

Once you have found out that you can actually test the quality of security that is implemented in your computer when you are online, you will see that it totally make sense. And it will make more sense if you can actually do the test to ensure your system’s security.

Your computer opens 65, 535 ports while you are surfing online on the cyber space or also known as the Internet. Because ports are blatantly open, some Interne outlaw may scan your system and may try its hardest to install what is called as a ‘bot’. This will make personal computer a part of some ‘botnet’.

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• Make sure that you are keeping your personal computer patched. This will help your home network fight against different known vulnerabilities that can damage or weakened you security system. Like viruses, Trojans and worms, vulnerabilities are discovered as often. New vulnerabilities are usually the effect of coming up of new malicious files and software. Most of the time, these vulnerabilities can be found in operating systems, in different web browsers and third party software. If these vulnerabilities will be left unpatched, hackers can easily exploit your personal computer resulting in unauthorized control and access of information from your computer.

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• Never open suspicious electronic mails that came from unknown senders. A lot of worms and viruses use the ‘social engineering’ mode of operation to carry out its malicious intents. By this, it means that worms and viruses fool the user to join different processes that will lead to system infiltration of the culprit and thus making the user another one victim.

  You can easily identify this. Usually, electronic mails from senders who you do not know or have no idea about are the carriers of the worms and viruses. You should just delete spam messages. If ever you opened one and it has an attachment, do not open the attachment.

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