Home networks are less expensive and easier to set up than ever. But sometimes the knowledge needed for building them isn't accompanied by guidelines on how to secure them from hackers. In some cases, those guidelines are simply ignored. In either case, that's a data disaster waiting to happen.

It's certainly possible to be paranoid about security. That excessive concern is just that, excessive. But a certain amount of caution is wise, not paranoid. Security is like medical insurance. You don't need it often, but when you do you'll need it badly. If you don't have it, the consequences can be severe.

Wireless home networks, which are becoming the more popular option thanks to their flexibility and lowered costs, are particularly prone to security issues. In theory, and often in practice, someone with a wireless-enabled laptop can simply drive by your home and tap into your network.  You can however protect yourself, we will talk about that in another article later this week.

If all they do is steal a little bit of bandwidth that's not much of a problem. But if they happen to be clever and malicious, they can now more easily implant a virus into systems on your home network without your knowledge.

Internet use has similar risks, but in that case you typically have to download an attachment from someone you don't know to get infected or sometimes, exploits can be embedded into web pages for inline downloads. That's easy to avoid. But in the case of a wireless home network, no action is required on your part to get infected. Even if you're following good Internet file sharing practices, you are still vulnerable.

Even
in a cabled network, it's possible of course, for someone to break in while you're away. Most such incidents will revolve around stealing property. But computer infection is one way for a disgruntled employee, a party to a lawsuit or other angry person to take revenge undetected.

In either type of network, the solution is essentially the same. Practice the same good habits you use for Internet data sharing and amplify them.

Make sure every computer on the network has a password that is required in order to access the system. Leaving a system unprotected to save a few seconds of inconvenience at home exposes your whole network to unnecessary risk.

Always change the password on your router. The defaults for most popular vendors' products (often the same from one to another) are known by just about everyone with the skills to do harm. Make it harder for them to do damage by this simple step.

Configure wireless routers according to the manufacturers' instructions, in order to prevent unauthorized access. All wireless routers today use WAP (Wireless Authentication Protocol) to prevent drive-by's from accessing your system. Use it.

Monitor activity on your network and the systems connected to it. Don't allow friends of your children, neighbors and others to use your network until you know them well. The computer knowledge of most teenagers would astound most adults today. Most are well meaning, but some haven't yet learned how to use a home network in a secure way.

Treat your home network much the same way you treat your credit cards. Don't provide physical access or pass out information to anyone that you don't want to have access to it. It's often a short step away from giving them access to your money. It's an even shorter step to your valuable data.