Please Help With Security Issues!

Amie

Mac Convert for Life
Hello!

I have Airport installed on my laptop and use T-Mobile Hotspot as my ISP so that I can go to any Hotspot and get online. I take standard security precautions like turning firewall on and turning sharing off, etc. Is this sufficent, security-wise? I have a new iBook G4, so it already has pretty decent security features (it's a Mac, so it's pretty stable, anyway--not some flimsy PC! LOL). So, is this really all I need? I don't do any banking or anything like that online, so I'm not worried about credit card theft, etc. Just mainly worried about hackers getting into my computer and ruining my system and/or mooching (I think it's called "sniffing"?) off my wireless connection. Or am I just worrying unnecessarily?

Can someone please offer some advice? And, please, remember I'm fairly new to the "techie" side of Mac, so go easy on me--no fancy terms! LOL (I'm still reading/researching WAP, WEP, LAN, and all that good stuff.)

Thanks so much for your help, everyone!
 
Amie, you're wearing us out :)

Not likely you have anything to worry about. Your system is secure. And if you're not providing the connection, the hot spot is, then no one is surfing on your connection.
 
bobw said:
Amie, you're wearing us out :)

Not likely you have anything to worry about. Your system is secure. And if you're not providing the connection, the hot spot is, then no one is surfing on your connection.

Good ol' Bobw! I KNEW I could count on you! :D

Thank you (again) for all your help. And thank you for being so patient with me while I learn the nooks and crannies of the beauty that is Mac OS X. :)

You might not believe it, but I'm actually quite computer literate and good at figuring things out, but it's the technical side that I'm still learning. And this is my first laptop, so the wireless features are totally new to me.

Thanks again, Bobw.
 
Actually ... I have two more questions. *wince* (You're gonna take my Mac away, aren't you?) :eek:

1. Sometimes I see networks that I've never even heard of on my AirPort icon in my menu bar. What does this mean?

2. T-Mobile offers something called 802.1x authentication/encryption, but, after reading about it on their Web site, it sounds like you need a special "T-Mobile Connection Manager" software to use their 802.1x services. I'm TOTALLY confused about that. I'm not even sure what it means. I just know that 802.1x is a security protocol for encrypting information during Internet sessions. Also, when I open my Internet Connection, it shows an 802.1x icon with a pad lock, so my computer is already 802.1x-ready. Do I really need to do this? Oh, and one more thing: I TRIED to configure my T-Mobile Hotspot network--I signed up--by clicking on 802.1x and then clicking on Configure after I typed in my user name, network, password, etc. ... and I COMPLETELY lost my connection and my computer didn't recognize T-Mobile anymore. (I panicked so badly that I almost threw up. LOL) Fortunately, I was able to UNconfigure it by selecting T-Mobile and clicking on the minus sign in the Configure window and removing the configuration--and then things were back to normal. (Whew!)
 
The wireless networks you've never heard of before are simply networks that have been identified by the wireless network card and are added to the list. The card doesn't really "know" what wireless networks are yours, or say, the neighbors so it adds them if it finds them. Sometimes there is a bleed over of sorts between wireless networks, especially if you live in an apartment type setting or close to other people. It also has a tendancy to occur if you use the computer in public settings as it picks up the businesses, etc...

As for the 802.1x wikipedia sums it up very well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.1x but the jist is that is an authentication method and you probably don't really need unless you just want to pay for it.
 
The wireless networks you've never heard of before are simply networks that have been identified by the wireless network card and are added to the list. The card doesn't really "know" what wireless networks are yours, or say, the neighbors so it adds them if it finds them. Sometimes there is a bleed over of sorts between wireless networks, especially if you live in an apartment type setting or close to other people. It also has a tendancy to occur if you use the computer in public settings as it picks up the businesses, etc...

As for the 802.1x wikipedia sums it up very well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.1x but the jist is that is an authentication method and you probably don't really need unless you just want to pay for it.

Oh, wow. I posted this, like, years ago. At least, it seems like years ago. Yeah, I already know this now, but thank you for your reply, anyway. Ya know what (and Bobw, you'd be so proud of me :D)? I've learned soooo much in the past year, now when I look back on my posts, they seem so elementary. Well, hey, I guess I'm doing something right. Can't say that I haven't learned anything, that's for sure! :)
 
yeah I noticed how old it was after I posted to the reply. I'm glad that you're moving along so well in the mac world. If you do ever have any further questions just ask! Good luck!
 
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