5 Tips to Secure Your Wireless Router

Wi-Fi routers can give you enough headaches without worrying if someone is leeching off your connection. You pay for that bandwidth you receive every month, and with so many movies to stream, games to play, and work to remotely connect to, you don't want to share your Internet pipe.

Not only can having others access your router slow down your connection, but there is the possibility they might get you into some legal entanglements. An incident made news least year in which a man was falsely arrested in child pornography charges. The guilty party was actually a neighboring bandwidth parasite neighbor using the innocent man's connection to download the odious content.

While a false arrest is an extreme case, having unauthorized users can cause performance issues and pose a security risk. Here are a few ways to keep leeches off your router.

    Password encryption should be well-known to anyone with a wireless router. Never leave your router open without a password, and there are very few reasons for the average home and small business user to not encrypt wireless signal with WPA2 security.

    Turn off broadcasting is a feature available in just about all routers. For example, you name your network "Jane's Wi-Fi." You know what the wireless name is (also called SSID), so you can easily enter the SSID into any devices you want to access that network. Other people, however, do not need to know the SSID. To prevent outsiders from seeing your network's name turn off broadcasting in your router's settings. This capability is typically found within the wireless router settings page in the router's management software. In the below image the "Enable SSID Broadcast" option would be unchecked, so that your network's name does not show up in other people's wireless network scans.

Disable Guest networks because lots of router now ship with an extra wireless network configured for guests to access your router. A guest network lets guests share your Internet connection without giving them access to shared files and devices on your private network. Guest networking is often used by businesses to provide customers courtesy access, but I recommend home users turn it off. Guest network passwords are sometimes configured with no security, or default passwords that anyone can easily look up on Google if they know the kind of router you have. If you are friend enough that I give you permission to share my router, you are friend enough to know my passphrase key.

MAC Filtering is a feature also found in most routers. You add the MAC address (a unique identifier for that unit) of any device you want to give access to the router into the filtering list. Any device not on the list that tries to get on will be blocked from accessing.

Get a network monitoring app such as Fing which will scan your network and provide information that you can use to see if you have any unwanted users or devices on your network. Fing will perform a discovery on your network and report information such as hostnames, IP addresses, MAC addresses, and more. If there is any information you don't recognize, you can investigate and found out if someone or something is on your network that shouldn't be.

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How Facial Recognition Systems Work

A newly-emerging trend in facial recognition software uses a 3D model, which claims to provide more accuracy. Capturing a real-time 3D image of a person's facial surface, 3D facial recognition uses distinctive features of the face -- where rigid tissue and bone is most apparent, such as the curves of the eye socket, nose and chin -- to identify the subject. These areas are all unique and don't change over time.

Using depth and an axis of measurement that is not affected by lighting, 3D facial recognition can even be used in darkness and has the ability to recognize a subject at different view angles with the potential to recognize up to 90 degrees (a face in profile).

Using the 3D software, the system goes through a series of steps to verify the identity of an individual.

Detection

Acquiring an image can be accomplished by digitally scanning an existing photograph (2D) or by using a video image to acquire a live picture of a subject (3D).

Alignment

Once it detects a face, the system determines the head's position, size and pose. As stated earlier, the subject has the potential to be recognized up to 90 degrees, while with 2D, the head must be turned at least 35 degrees toward the camera.

Measurement

The system then measures the curves of the face on a sub-millimeter (or microwave) scale and creates a template.

Representation

The system translates the template into a unique code. This coding gives each template a set of numbers to represent the features on a subject's face.

Matching

If the image is 3D and the database contains 3D images, then matching will take place without any changes being made to the image. However, there is a challenge currently facing databases that are still in 2D images. 3D provides a live, moving variable subject being compared to a flat, stable image. New technology is addressing this challenge. When a 3D image is taken, different points (usually three) are identified. For example, the outside of the eye, the inside of the eye and the tip of the nose will be pulled out and measured. Once those measurements are in place, an algorithm (a step-by-step procedure) will be applied to the image to convert it to a 2D image. After conversion, the software will then compare the image with the 2D images in the database to find a potential match.

Verification or Identification

In verification, an image is matched to only one image in the database (1:1). For example, an image taken of a subject may be matched to an image in the Department of Motor Vehicles database to verify the subject is who he says he is. If identification is the goal, then the image is compared to all images in the database resulting in a score for each potential match (1:N). In this instance, you may take an image and compare it to a database of mug shots to identify who the subject is.

 

Facial Recognition Systems Uses

 

In the past, the primary users of facial recognition software have been law enforcement agencies, who used the system to capture random faces in crowds. Some government agencies have also been using the systems for security and to eliminate voter fraud. The U.S. government has recently begun a program called US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology), aimed at foreign travelers gaining entry to the United States. When a foreign traveler receives his visa, he will submit fingerprints and have his photograph taken. The fingerprints and photograph are checked against a database of known criminals and suspected terrorists. When the traveler arrives in the United States at the port of entry, those same fingerprints and photographs will be used to verify that the person who received the visa is the same person attempting to gain entry.

However, there are now many more situations where the software is becoming popular. As the systems become less expensive, making their use more widespread. They are now compatible with cameras and computers that are already in use by banks and airports. The TSA is currently working on and testing out its Registered Traveler program. The program will provide speedy security screening for passengers who volunteer information and complete a security threat assessment. At the airport there will be specific lines for the Registered Traveler to go through that will move more quickly, verifying the traveler by their facial features.

Other potential applications include ATM and check-cashing security. The software is able to quickly verify a customer's face. After a customer consents, the ATM or check-cashing kiosk captures a digital image of him. The FaceIt software then generates a faceprint of the photograph to protect customers against identity theft and fraudulent transactions. By using the facial recognition software, there's no need for a picture ID, bankcard or personal identification number (PIN) to verify a customer's identity. This way businesses can prevent fraud from occurring.

While all the examples above work with the permission of the individual, not all systems are used with your knowledge. In the first section we mentioned that systems were used during the Super Bowl by the Tampa Police, and in Ybor City. These systems were taking pictures of all visitors without their knowledge or their permission. Opponents of the systems note that while they do provide security in some instances, it is not enough to override a sense of liberty and freedom. Many feel that privacy infringement is too great with the use of these systems, but their concerns don't end there. They also point out the risk involved with identity theft. Even facial recognition corporations admit that the more use the technology gets, the higher the likelihood of identity theft or fraud.

As with many developing technologies, the incredible potential of facial recognition comes with some drawbacks, but manufacturers are striving to enhance the usability and accuracy of the systems.

 

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5 Best Phones to Use as Wireless Modems

Over the past few years, cell phone technology has greatly increased, allowing up to five laptops to be connected to one device.

Hybrid Phones and Tablets

The first cell phone we’re going to look at s the Samsung Galaxy Note; this is a hybrid tablet and cell phone, has a huge screen, and uses a touch screen stylus. It’s also LTE capable, which means faster data transfer speeds.

For Modem Use, Check with Cell Phone Carrier

Keep in mind, that tethering your cell phone with your lap top maybe an additional cost with your cell carrier. It’s important to note that cell phone speeds vary dramatically with tethering based on your cell phone carrier and geographic location.

Using the iPhone as a Modem

One of the more popular smartphones on our list is the apple iPhone, which can be tethered wirelessly through WiFi, or via the cable.

Other Phones Used for Modems

If you’re using an HTC device, with the windows phone seven operating system otherwise known as mango, now you can also tether.

Another great phone for tethering is the Samsung Galaxy S2. This phone offers ease of use and comes with 4g technology.

The Motorola Droid Razr is not only a powerful phone running on the android OS, but it’s thin and get excellent battery life.

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