Router Security Risks: Protecting Against Unconfigured Devices

Routers are a good way to protect your computer from malicious attacks, but they are ineffective if not configured correctly. For example, wireless routers are inherently less secure than wired ones since they broadcast data back and forth between your computer . . . Routers are a good way to protect your computer from malicious attacks, but they are ineffective if not configured correctly. For example, wireless routers are inherently less secure than wired ones since they broadcast data back and forth between your computer and your Internet connection via high-frequency radio signals which can be intercepted. This is less of a problem if the data is encrypted, but few routers are set up to do this by default.

If you don't encrypt your network, you end up with a situation like the one last week where a Toronto man was arrested for downloading kiddie porn on to his laptop while parked next to a house where he had tapped into someone's high-speed Internet connection via their unsecured wireless router

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