How to secure wifi?

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Brian.D

Unless there really is something of REAL value, a hacker will not try to get in if the password is strong. This is an example of a strong password...

nfGWNe-pW5a*rkLYjd3ZwD96*

With a password tester, the above example to hack will take...2 trillion trillion trillion years

A password you have to write down, because you can't memorize it, isn't strong.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Brian.D

Unless there really is something of REAL value, a hacker will not try to get in if the password is strong. This is an example of a strong password...

nfGWNe-pW5a*rkLYjd3ZwD96*

With a password tester, the above example to hack will take...2 trillion trillion trillion years

If the system doesn't block you out after each attempt, all the hacker has to do is write a code to test each character in each position constantly until it's broken.

It would more likely take 2 trillion, trillion, trillion attempts and with today's computer CPUs running at 1.5 - 4 plus gigahertz speed it wouldn't take that long.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by kali_kishte

Is there a way to secure your home [drives] and network when you are out cruising to get rid of hacking attempts? The way/method/app/technique should not be for a techie person.
TIA

Wifi is relatively easy to hack for pros, period. But usually not worth the effort.

What's more important is what anyone will find once into your boat network. Short non-techie answer: don't leave anything on or connected that you don't want people to see. Turn off all personal devices (PCs, tablets, phones), disconnect any drives with sensitive info.

As I type this, a simple solution suggests itself: designate an additional wifi router as the "sensitive" one. This will be the router/ wifi access point where all sensitive stuff would connect to, then one cable connects that router to the main router. Then you can secure all that by turning off that "sensitive" router when you leave the boat. Your boat's main router/AP would still be able to manage and send boat data to the cloud or whatever.

Many other possibilities, but these are in the realm of "techie" and/or billable hours.

[wholybee]

People make huge money studying and specializing in how to harden a network so it can't be hacked, and still fail. Network security isn't something an average person can expect to be good at.

Most hacks are not a result of a cracked password. They are either social engineering (befriending someone and gaining access to their computer/passwords etc.) or via a software or hardware bug. Often the hack is to a third party (for example the Defender Breach)

There is no software that will make your house/boat/business secure. That said, "Antivirus" software is essential. In quotes because computer viruses are rare, and good Antivirus software includes firewall, email, and malware as well.

The best a non-technical person can do is have a strong password, and keep everything up to date. Don't skip software updates ever. Do not ever use repeat passwords. For example, if your password on defender was the same as your email password, and they got both your email address and your defender password, they now have access to your email, and from that by using password recovery means access to almost any site you have accessed. Educate yourself on phishing attacks and how to recognize them.

As far as remembering a strong password, the most important factor is length. You don't need numbers or special characters. A complete sentence that is easy to remember but 20 characters or more long is far far more secure than an obscure hard to remember 8 characters with a number and special symbol.

Don't trust anyone with your password. It sounds simple, but social engineering is how many large hacks happen.

[Stu Jackson]

Why does anyone need to remember any passwords? If you're using different ones for each "account" most people connect to bunches of different places, so for the average Joe, there may be anywhere from a dozen or more. Who can remember all of these? Wouldn't a prudent person write them down somewhere?

[fogmachine]

- Make sure your software - OS, apps, router firmware - are up-to-date. Hacking is usually automated to exploit known security holes; it's amazing how many of the holes are already fixed but users don't install the patches.

- Don't use Microsoft software. If you have to, don't use Windows. If you have to, don't use Internet Explorer (which isn't even supported anymore).
- Use reputable firewalls/routers with software that is actively maintained by the manufacturer. I wish I could name one.
- Change default passwords. Duh.
- If you need to browse/visit dubious sites, learn how to use Virtual Machines.

[dfelsent]

^^^^^ this

But if there is something on your computer of significant value (say a few billion in Bitcoin) remember physical access trumps everything.

I doubt anyone here has those resources and is not hiring professional help.

Me? Strong passwords, different across all sites, the stuff I really care about is not online stuff. And backups and check accounts every so often. And antivirus. And anti malware. And anti phishing training. And street sense.

Phishing and other scams are 90% of the issues.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Why does anyone need to remember any passwords? If you're using different ones for each "account" most people connect to bunches of different places, so for the average Joe, there may be anywhere from a dozen or more. Who can remember all of these? Wouldn't a prudent person write them down somewhere?

No you use a password keeper
You configure your system to only allow connections from specific systems and you set watchers from a secure location to disable the network when intrusion attempts are noticed

Oh and much more far beyond what you are going to get here in a short response
Your primary Wi-Fi is readily open and a firewall protects and monitors from behind

I use multiple subnetworks and watchers that tell me if anything odd is happening

No outbound connections from behind the super private network

The idea is to make it more work so that anything they get takes longer than the value of what they can grab

But as noted most intrusions are where you mistakenly let them in more so than they break in

There are portable firewalls you can buy for less than a couple hundred

But as also mentioned this is tech stuff mote than homeowners diy

[Cool Hand Luke]

BTW... 8 character password using WEP encryption can be broken in seconds. 8 character WPA2 password would take a few hours.

Use a modern encryption scheme and a long password, as others have mentioned.

[sailorboy1]

passwords = those things you setup to keep yourself off a website

meanwhile your ATM code is since 4 digits

[JebLostInSpace]

The amount of dick measuring in this thread is hilarious to me

[Lodesman]

Presumably by "cruising" you imply using marina or public wifi? I understand that if these are compromised, you open yourself to also being compromised. Use a VPN. I'm sure some techie will come along and poke holes in my advice

[ohdrinkboy]

As a professional in cyber security told me. All passwords are hackable, it's just a matter of time and money. the longer and more complex the harder to hack. you just hope they decide to move to an easier target .

[thursday]

You can use a tool like this to generate an easy-to-remember-but-extremely-difficult-to-crack password

https://masterpasswordgenerator.com/

That site does not send any data back to the host (can verify in chrome dev view if you don't trust, or download the site and run it locally).

[ikanode]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

most people connect to bunches of different places, so for the average Joe, there may be anywhere from a dozen or more. Who can remember all of these? Wouldn't a prudent person write them down somewhere?

Use a password manager. I use Dashlane--it's not perfect but I'd give it a B. One advantage is that it works on both my Mac and my iPad so I only have to enter the info one time and it's available on both.

Or write passwords down someplace that's not obvious. The biggest problem isn't someone physically breaking in but someone remote.
----

When I was working, I had several safes that I occasionally needed to open. I wrote the combinations in my Rolex disguised as phone numbers.

34-56-78-89 became

Bob Smith: ACME
345 Fifth St
NY NY 10001
1-800-345-6788 ext 9 (or as 713-456-7889)