Norton 360

[SWHouston]

Ref Info:

3 Computer Home (Vista, 7 & XP, HP 6500 Printer)

Have Norton 360 on all Computers

Just installed ATT WiFi 3600HGV Router.

Router is WPA Pass Word Protected..

I suppose my main question is how vulnerable am I, from an intrusion on my WiFi System ?

Is there anything I can "toggle" in my 360's, which will assist in the security now ?

Are there Norton/Other Software, which would provide more security than is already in place ?

Thanks up front,

S.W.

[SendOfJive Norton Fighter]

Hi SWHouston,

If you did not use a router before, you are now somewhat more secure than you were before without one.  Routers use Network Address Translation which effectively drops any incoming traffic that is not in response to a request  from a PC on your network.  Most routers also have a firewall (which will not conflict with the Norton firewall).  These features make your network very safe from hackers.

The issue you need to address is the wireless setup, which must be secured to prevent your traffic from being observed and to keep neighbors and others from joining your network.  Since you are broadcasting your traffic, wifi security must be handled in the router (and your computer's network settings) - Norton can't do anything about traffic that has already left your PC and is being transmitted over the airwaves.  WPA (or better, WPA-2) encryption is really all you need to accomplish this.  Be sure to use as long a passphrase as you can muster.  While encryption is really the only step you need to take, there are some other things you can do as well.  Most of the additional steps will not make your network invincible, but they will keep your non-geeky neighbors from seeing your network.  The following article lists some of these measures.  Changing the default password  you use to access your router configuration screens is extremely important, and you should also make sure that your router is configured so that its settings can only be accessed from your Local Area Network, and not from the internet.  It is also recommended to turn off UPnP in the router.

http://spotlight.getnetwise.org/wireless/wifitips/