Secure Your Home Network

We've been treated to some pretty entertaining feats of
espionage courtesy of Hollywood. Who can forget the way Tom
Cruise dangled from the ceiling as he attempted to crack into
a computer security system in "Mission Impossible?" Or how
about the mysterious hacker who seems to slip past every
security to corrupt the Rossum Corporation's data in the
"Dollhouse" television series? Hacking into a network must
require superhuman skills and knowledge, right?

You might be surprised to learn how easy it is for someone to
hack into a computer network. The fact is that many computer
networks are practically defenseless to intruders. In the
early days of home computer networks, the people who put the
networks together were experts and enthusiasts. They put
their systems together knowing how computers can communicate
with each other and built in protective measures to prevent
other computer users from snooping.

Today, home computer networks are popular among a broad range
of consumers. User knowledge spans from expert to newbie.
Some users may be unaware of the dangers they can encounter
if they don't properly secure their network. Others may think
home network security is too complicated or confusing. But
network security is more important than ever and it's worth
the effort to learn more about it.

An unprotected network could allow malicious hackers -- known
as crackers -- access to your data. It might even allow
someone to take control of your computers and use them to
commit crimes like a distributed denial of service attack
(DDoS). Even if no one snoops on your information or controls
your computer, someone might use your network to access the
Internet. As more ISPs begin to place caps on how much data
you can download, it becomes even more important to control
your network. You don't want to get slapped with a huge bill
for Internet services you didn't even use.

With the right tools and knowledge, you can minimize your
chances of having your security compromised by malicious
hackers or computer viruses.