This is the final installment of our Mac Security series (although not my final Mac related post as I’ll continue posting each weekend). If anyone has any additional Mac security topics I haven’t covered, feel free to post a thread, and I’ll be pleased to answer it.
This week I wanted to briefly examine three areas relating to Wi-Fi security.
Securing In-Home Wi-Fi
It is important to ensure one’s in-home Wi-Fi network is secure, as not securing one’s in-home Wi-Fi network opens the door to attackers, as well as anyone simply using your home Internet connection for free. My personal recommendation is to use a Wi-Fi password that utilizes WPA2 instead of WPA or WEP. If you’re not sure which form of Wi-Fi security you have, ask your router manufacturer or ISP. If it’s anything less than WPA2, find out what it would take to switch the security to WPA2. WPA3 is also coming which will be even more secure, but it doesn’t have broad device support at the moment. Eventually, it will be good to migrate to WPA3.
Adding Guest Access to Wi-Fi
Many routers also offer the ability to enable guest access to the Wi-Fi network, and it’s generally a good idea to enable a router’s guest access, provided it’s also secured with a password that’s separate from the main Wi-Fi network password, and that guest access also uses a WPA2 password. When guests are visiting, you simply don’t want them having full access to everything on your network when accessing your Internet. Taking a few moments to provide them with a separate network that allows them to access the Internet without handing them the keys to your main network is a smart move. Even then, it is good to only give out the guest network password to guests you’d trust on your network. If guests perform anything nefarious or illegal on your network, it could get traced back to you (as I have seen with some churches with guests in the past).
Use a VPN on Public Wi-Fi
Now that I have unlimited data on my iPhone and high data caps on my iPad and iPhone’s mobile hotspot, I’ve had less of a need to use Public Wi-Fi. I can use my iPhone and iPad on LTE and connect a Mac to my iPhone’s mobile hotspot on-the-go. However, for the times when I need to dip into Public Wi-Fi, I use and recommend others use a VPN. (Virtual Private Network). Public Wi-Fi networks are generally not secure, and anyone on the network can snoop around on network traffic. This article explains what a VPN does. VPN’s were originally created for office workers who needed to remote into their company network (I do this for a company I remotely work for), but consumer versions of VPN providers have gained popularity since they route Wi-Fi traffic through a secure tunnel. I’ve personally tested WiTopia and Private Internet Access. Both offer good performance. I found Private Internet Access works well with Windows/Android whereas WiTopia works well with macOS/iOS. I’m personally using WiTopia at the moment since I need Cisco IPSec support. VPN services come in multiple “flavors” (PPTP, L2TP, Cisco IPSec, and OpenVPN are the main ones). PPTP is an older variant that isn’t as secure. I personally recommend L2TP or Cisco IPSec (I’ve had the best experience with Cisco IPSec). OpenVPN is solid as well but a little harder to configure. Verizon also offers Safe Wi-Fi which I may test at a later date.
Thanks for reading the Mac Security series! Feel free to post any questions!
Nathan Parker
