Top 10 Tips On How To Secure WiFi Wireless Home Networks

While setting up wireless home networks many people rush through the job to get their Internet connectivity working as quickly as possible. That’s totally understandable. But, it’s also quite risky as numerous security problems can result. Here is a brief top ten safety guide on how to secure WiFi wireless home networks: 

  

1. Change Default Administrator Usernames and Passwords

Most routers or access points come enabled with a default set of username/password combinations. These combinations are well documented and available online for hackers to use. If a hacker can access your device’s administrative pages they can modify the configuration and control all aspects of your device. These username/password combinations can be changed from the administrative panel.

2. Turn on WPA / WEP Encryption 

All Wireless devices support some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over the air and ensures that they cannot be intercepted by hackers. Several encryption technologies exist for wireless communication today. WPA is the strongest commonly available encryption technology for home devices, however, WEP can also be used.
 

3. Change the Default SSID 

Accesspoints and routers all use a network name called the SSID. Manufacturers normally ship their products with the same SSID set for all routers. For example, the SSID for Netgear devices is normally “NETGEAR”. The Default SSID can be changed from the administrative panel and should be set to something unique.

4. Enable MAC Address Filtering 

Each wireless device possesses a unique identifier called the physical address or MAC address. Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses for all devices that connect to them. Wireless routers offer the option to key in the MAC addresses of your home equipment so as to restrict the network to only allow connections from those devices. It ensures that rogue users cannot connect to the wireless router without using advanced MAC spoofing techniques.

5. Disable SSID Broadcast

The wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (SSID) over the air at regular intervals. This feature was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where wireless clients may roam in and out of range. For the home user, this roaming feature is unnecessary as it increases the likelihood of an unauthorised gaining access to your home network. Fortunately, most wireless access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network administrator. Your SSID name can be manually inputted into your devices.

6. Do Not Auto-Connect to Open Wireless Networks

Connecting to an open wireless network such as a free wireless hotspot or your neighbour’s router exposes your computer to security risks and attacks. Although not normally enabled, most computers are configured to allow automatic connections, without notifying the user. This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.

7. Assign Static IP Addresses to Devices

Most home wireless devices use dynamic IP addresses, which are randomly assigned by DHCP servers. Unfortunately, dynamic IP allocation also works to the advantage of network attackers, who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool. Turn off DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range instead and then configure each connected device to match. Using a private IP address range (like 10.0.0.x) prevents computers from being directly reached from the Internet.

8. Enable Firewalls On Each Computer and Router

Modern network routers contain built-in firewall capability, which can be easily disabled. Ensure that your router’s firewall is turned on. For added security, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router.

9. Position the Router or Access Point Safely

Wireless signals normally have a wide radius, extending out of homes. A small amount of signal leakage outdoors is not a problem, but the further this signal reaches, the easier it is for others to detect and exploit. Wireless signals often reach through neighbouring houses and into the streets. When installing a wireless home network, the position of the access point or router determines its reach. Try to position these

devices near the centre of the home rather than windows to minimise leakage. Many routers allow you to reduce the range of your router’s signal from the administrative panel.

10. Turn Off Network During Extended Periods of Non-Use

Shutting down your network when not in use will most certainly prevent outside hackers from breaking in. While impractical to frequently switch off and on the devices, at least consider doing so during travel or extended periods of downtime.
Bonus Tips: If you own a wireless router but are only using it wired (Ethernet) connections, you can also sometimes turn off Wi-Fi on a broadband router without powering down the entire network.

Source : techchunks.com

Top 15+ Cell Phone Security Tips to Protect You Against Identity & Information Theft

In this world of information and identity th3ft it is no more a privilege to use a cool cell phone and brag about it too! In past, crooks used to require more physical ways to lay their hands on your hard earned money. But with the advancement of technology and the prevalence of electronic transactions, now it is just a matter of wrong steps (plethora of information being conveyed in private conversations being conducted publicly or retrieve the data stored in mobile phones) before you would find your money vanished from your a/c and you would have lost your identity too!

In light of all these facts and potential threats, it is imperative to take concrete defensive action safeguarding your personal information. It can be difficult to sacrifice convenience for safety, but it is a necessity in these electronic times. Remember, it only takes seconds for your personal information to be transmitted to a criminal network. And it takes an experienced cyber-criminal much less time to steal your identity, resources, and good name than it took you to establish them.

Use this list to help you protect your information in this cellular world:

1.

Make sure you know the make and model of your phone, the phone number, the serial/IMEI number, the PIN number and the descriptive details of the phone including color, shape, size and identifying features. Taking a picture of your phone is helpful. Staple the picture to a sheet of paper with the details noted above. If your cell phone is ever stolen, the police will need this information to help with their investigation.

2. 

Contact the network with whom you have service as soon as you realize your cell phone has been stolen. Ask that they block your phone across all networks so service cannot be obtained with another provider.

3. 

Use the PIN or security lock code option available with your phone to lock your phone when it is not in use. This will keep your valuable personal information safe from a theft who gains access to your phone.

4. 

A limited number of phones have a remote lock capability. If your cell phone has that option, familiarize yourself with how to do it and set up your phone for it. The feature will allow you to lock your cell phone and your memory card.

5. 

Use an ultraviolet marker to place a security mark on your cell phone and battery. It is recommended that you use two numbers of significance to you. Do NOT use an account or PIN number. You can use your zip code, your house number, a lucky number.

6. 

Clear your text messages and calendar entries as soon as possible. Entries of significance or sentimental value can be forwarded to your home email and printed out or stored on your computer’s hard drive.

7.

Never elect to have passwords saved on your device or to stay logged on to your accounts from your cellular phone. Though it may save you a few precious seconds, it can cause you significant harm which will require a substantial amount of the time you cannot afford to waste.

8. 

Allowing your browser history to be saved for lengthy periods of time can offer some useful information to a savvy th1ef.  Make sure your settings are such that eliminate the history as quickly as allowed. Let your home computer be the place you store that type of information if you must.

9. 

Protect your friends and families from identity th3ft. Do not keep comprehensive contact information stored in your phone. Imagine the harm that could befall your loved ones if you were to have their names, birthdates, email addresses, and relationship to you saved for anyone to see.

10. 

When engaged in a conversation in public, do not readily reveal personal data. If it is required, save the conversation for a time when you are in private. If the phone cal cannot wait and you must provide this type of information only do so if you have access to a secure area which limits the potential for strangers to overhear.

11. 

Don’t leave your phone out when it isnt’ in use. No point in making a th1ef’s job easy, is there? Keep your cell phone away whenever possible.

12. 

Register your cell phone with The National Mobile Property Register. This will make the process of getting your phone returned to you easier for the police. Report your cell phone missing, lost, or stolen as soon as you notice it.

13. 

Do NOT leave your phone visible in the car when you leave it there. Half of all cell phone th3fts occur in vehicles.

14. 

Do NOT open texts from unknown or unfamiliar sources. These could be malicious software waiting to steal your information or encouraging you to visit a particular website with the intent of retrieving certain information.

15. 

Report suspicious activity or issues with service immediately. Overage charges could be caused by malware texts or by someone gaining access to your service and using to attack other people.

16. 

Avoid using downloadable software unless it is from a trusted source or has been deemed acceptable by a trusted source.

17. 

Disable remote capabilities when they are not in use to limit the opportunity for information being retrieved in that manner.

18. 

Encrypt your information if you must keep it on your cell phone. Some devices offer the option to encrypt files or the software to do it.

Source : techchunks.com

Top 10 Common SEO Mistakes

So far in my Simple SEO tips, I have been focusing on the positives, but in this article I thought it might be useful to look at some of the things that you should avoid in relation to SEO by listing my top 10 common SEO mistakes.  There should be no embarrassment when it comes to assessing SEO mistakes and how these can be minimized or removed, as there are so many factors that need to be taken into account when it comes to SEO, that it is difficult to avoid making errors in one area or another, even if you are experienced, never mind if you are just starting out.  That is why I would strongly recommend that everyone goes back to their work sometime after posting and looks at it with a cool, detached eye.

The truth is that the theory of maximizing SEO can often actually be easier to appreciate, than putting it into practice.  I cannot emphasize enough the need to follow through SEO tips to the letter when putting together articles and websites, if you want to improve your rankings in the Google Search Engine results and increase your internet traffic.

Here are my Top 10 Common SEO Mistakes.

1.  Picking a poor domain name when you first set up your website. 

This will lose you internet traffic.  If you want good SEO, then you should try to pick a domain name that uses good keywords, unless you are pushing a particular name or brand.

2.  Writing an article without already having your main keywords in mind. 

If you want good SEO, then you need to decide on your main keywords in advance and build your article around them, both in terms of the subject matter and including the main keywords in your title and body of text.  One of the best free tools for helping to pick good keywords is the Google Keyword Tool, see Simple Simple SEO tips 3: How to use Google Keywords Tool to find good keywords.

3.  Not using keywords that lots of people search for.  

It stands to reason that if you want to have lots of internet traffic, then you should write about a topic that lots of people search for and pick your keywords accordingly, but you would be surprised by how many people do not do that.  You can easily find out how often a particular keyword or keyword phrase is searched for by using the Google Keyword Tool (see above for link to my article on it).

4.  Using keywords that are too competitive.  

This is the other side of the coin from no. 3 above.  There are some keywords that lots of people search for, but they are heavily competed over, making them a very challenging proposition if you want your article or website to rank highly in the Google Search Engine results.  Again, the Google Keyword Tool is a free and effective way to discover how much a keyword is competed over.

5.  Picking a poor title for an article or blog post. 

The title of an article or blog post is important in two main ways.  The first is that you want to encourage people to click on your link when they see it in the search engine results, usually by making it obvious what your article is about from the title – although this is very important, it doesn’t relate directly to SEO.  The second element does relate directly to SEO and basically says that if you want to maximize the SEO of an article or blog post, then you should include your main keyword, or keyword phrase, in your title.  This will improve your visibility, as far as Google goes.

6.  Not including your keywords in the body of the text. 

I have seen some excellent articles and blog posts written and posted online which have great keywords to accompany them.  The only problem is that the keywords do not occur in the text of the article, rendering them pretty ineffective.  You should put your main keyword(s) in both the title and text, and your other keywords in the text.  You can repeat keywords, but do not overdo it, always remember that your article or blog post should always be readable.

7.  Believing that you have put keywords in, but they are not a perfect match. 

This is very easily done and I am perfectly capable of this mistake too!  You believe that you have used your keywords, whereas in reality, you have used an expression with the same meaning, but different wording.  For instance, your keywords might be: “brew beer at home” and you use the expression “make beer at home”, or even “make homebrew”.  Although there might be similarities in the expressions, Google is a machine, and doesn’t see words as things with meanings, just as a collection of keyboard characters.  You should always use the exact form of the keywords that you have chosen.

8.  Not promoting enough through backlinks.  

Backlinks can and do make a difference to an article, or blog post’s, ranking in the search engines in the medium to longterm.  The quality can often be more important than the number of backlinks.  For more information on getting backlinks, check out my article: Simple SEO tips 2: How to get backlinks

9.  Not interlinking posts enough.  

Interlinking articles and websites costs nothing apart from a little time, but can also improve your article, website, or blog post’s visibility with search engines.  You should use text that contains a main keyword, whenever possible, for your link (this is known as “anchor text”).  For more information on interlinking articles and websites, see Simple SEO Tips 4: How to build links to your websites and posts internally

10.  Not promoting your website, blog, or article enough generally, especially through social networking sites such as Twitter. 

Social networking sites are a great way of getting your articles and websites out there.  They can spread your content and name across the internet and every time somebody bookmarks or emails a link of yours, it can help your SEO.  Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly important in the modern world and they shouldn’t be ignored.  To find out more about using Twitter, see Simple SEO tips 5: Using Twitter as a Marketing Tool.

Source :simple-seo-tips.com

Top 10 Ways to Make Your Relationship Magically Romantic

Creating magical moments in your relationship is something everyone thinks about, but few people do. Perhaps it's because they actually can't think of exactly what to do. Here are ten "acts of love" that you can do with and for your partner to bring a little more romance into your relationship.

1. 

Make your morning time special by bringing your partner a cup of coffee while he or she is still in bed. If you're willing and able you can also serve them breakfast in bed. It will make your partner feel cherished and the kindness will be returned.

2. 

Make the time at the end of the work-day when you first see one another extra special by giving each other a 10 second hug and kiss. You will both feel more deeply connected throughout the evening. Also remember to touch your partner affectionately throughout the day, not just when you want to be romantic.

3. 

Make time to make-time. Plan a romantic rendezvous during the week. You can get a room at a local hotel or plan to have the house all to yourselves. Just the anticipation of being together in this way will add spark to your romantic life.

4.

Whenever you can, take the time to give your partner 100% of your attention when they want to talk to you. Put down the remote control or whatever you're reading, face your partner and say "What would you like to talk about?" It will make your partner feel loved and important to you.

5. 

Take the time to tell your partner that they look wonderful, beautiful, sexy or great. We all have doubts about our looks and hearing that we are attractive to our partners is a very important part of creating a romantic relationship.

6. 

Before you leave in the morning tell your partner that you are looking forward to seeing them when you return. Never leave the house without acknowledging your partner or saying, "I love you."

7. 

Next time you are shopping alone, get a couple of little "surprise gifts" for your partner. The next time he or she is feeling down, give them one of the gifts. This is a wonderful and uplifting act of love and it will be remembered for a very long time.

8. 

If your partner is having a rough day offer to take them out or make dinner for them. If they are the one usually doing the cooking this will be a welcome change and a sign of your appreciation. If they are experiencing stress at work, it will be a great way for them to unwind from a tough day.

9. 

Be spontaneous and rent a convertible and kidnap your partner for a drive up the coast for lunch or dinner. This is a wonderfully romantic and very simple thing to do. If you want to be a little more extravagant, you can choose to spend the night at a Bed & Breakfast and drive home the next day.

10.  

This one is terribly romantic, so don't try it unless you're ready for a passionate evening. Get your partner two or more roses. Take one of them and pull off the petals. Drop the petals on the floor leading to the bedroom and place several petals on the bed. Put the other roses in a vase on the nightstand. Your partner will never forget your thoughtfulness.

Don't try to do everything on this list in the same weekend, one a month is plenty. These ideas are just a little help to get you started. Once you get going, more ideas will come to you on their own.

Taking the time to create romance in your relationship is paramount to creating a fulfilling love life. Even if you think your ideas are silly, your partner will be thrilled that you took the time to do something loving for them. Remember, it's the thought that counts.

Source : psychologytoday.com

Top 10 Bizarre Things in Space

From miniature black holes to distortions in the fabric of space-time, from galaxies that are eating each other to matter that can neither be seen nor detected directly…space is full of many strange things. And here are ten of the strangest, courtesy of MSN and Space.com:

   

1. Quasars

These bright beacons shine to us from the edges of the visible universe and are reminders to scientists of our universe’s chaotic infancy. Quasars release more energy than hundreds of galaxies combined. The general consensus is that they are monstrous black holes in the hearts of distant galaxies. This image is of quasar 3C 273, photographed in 1979.

2. Vacuum Energy

Quantum physics tells us that contrary to appearances, empty space is a bubbling brew of “virtual” subatomic particles that are constantly being created and destroyed. The fleeting particles endow every cubic centimeter of space with a certain energy that, according to general relativity, produces an anti-gravitational force that pushes space apart. Nobody knows what’s really causing the accelerated expansion of the universe, however.

3. Anti-matter

Like Superman’s alter-ego, Bizzaro, the particles making up normal matter also have opposite versions of themselves. An electron has a negative charge, for example, but its anti-matter equivalent, the positron, is positive. Matter and anti-matter annihilate each other when they collide and their mass is converted into pure energy by Einstein’s equation E=mc2. Some futuristic spacecraft designs incorporate anti-matter engines.

4. Mini Black Holes

If a radical new “braneworld” theory of gravity is correct, then scattered throughout our solar system are thousands of tiny black holes, each about the size of an atomic nucleus. Unlike their larger brethren, these mini-black holes are primordial leftovers from the Big Bang and affect space-time differently because of their close association with a fifth dimension.

5. Cosmic Microwave Background

Also known as the CMB, this radiation is a primordial leftover from the Big Bang that birthed the universe. It was first detected during the 1960s as a radio noise that seemed to emanate from everywhere in space. The CMB is regarded as one of the best pieces of evidence for the theoretical Big Bang. Recent precise measurements by the WMAP project place the CMB temperature at -455 degrees Fahrenheit (-270 Celsius).

6. Dark Matter

Scientists think it makes up the bulk of matter in the universe, but it can neither be seen nor detected directly using current technologies. Candidates range from light-weight neutrinos to invisible black holes. Some scientists question whether dark matter is even real, and suggest that the mysteries it was conjured to solve could be explained by a better understanding of gravity.

7. Exoplanets

Until about the early 1990s, the only known planets in the universe were the familiar ones in our solar system. Astronomers have since identified more than 190 extrasolar planets (as of June 2006). They range from gargantuan gas worlds whose masses are just shy of being stars to small, rocky ones orbiting dim, red dwarfs. Searches for a second Earth, however, have so far turned up empty. Astronomers generally believe that better technology is likely to eventually reveal several worlds similar to our own.

8. Gravity Waves

Gravity waves are distortions in the fabric of space-time predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The waves travel at the speed of light, but they are so weak that scientists expect to detect only those created during colossal cosmic events, such as black hole mergers like the one shown above. LIGO and LISA are two detectors designed to spot the elusive waves.

9. Galactic Cannibalism

Like life on Earth, galaxies can “eat” each other and evolve over time. The Milky Way’s neighbor, Andromeda, is currently dining on one of its satellites. More than a dozen star clusters are scattered throughout Andromeda, the cosmic remains of past meals. The image above is from a simulation of Andromeda and our galaxy colliding, an event that will take place in about 3 billion years.

10. Neutrinos

Neutrinos are electrically neutral, virtually mass-less elementary particles that can pass through miles of lead unhindered. Some are passing through your body as you read this. These “phantom” particles are produced in the inner fires of burning, healthy stars as well as in the supernova explosions of dying stars. Detectors are being embedded underground, beneath the sea, or into a large chunk of ice as part of IceCube, a neutrino-detecting project.

Source : listverse.com