wireless security?

Question

I have just gone wireless & bought a laptop,I understand that the modem/gateway gives me a firewall protection while working at home but do I need to instale a security program such as norton security for use when using hot spots away from home the laptop came with Norton anti virus instaled & I am using windows XP

Answer 1

better go for zonealarm firewall or better will be bitdefender antivirus pro

Answer 2

There is no such thing as too much security. You should always have some sort of antivirus program on any computer that you use. I really don't care for Norton, but having some form of protection is better than no protection at all. As for firewalls, the firewall in the gateway is fine. This stops unwanted traffic coming in. You should also have a firewall for stuff that goes out of your computer. If you have Windows XP, then you already have one. It is built in to the operating system. Windows Firewall is located in the control panel. Click on Windows Firewall in the control panel, then click the button that says 'on' to turn it on, then click OK. If you don't like Norton Antivirus, then Microsoft Windows Defender is a good program to use. It gets rid of viruses, worm, trojans, spyware, malware, and any other type of malicious software. This program is a free program and the updates are also free. This program can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx.It is very easy to use and doesn't have a lot of configuration screens, plus it doesn't bug you all of the time, which comes in handy when your trying to get work done. It only bugs you when very important things happen that need your attention. So far, it hasn't bothered my at all. It just does its job and leaves me alone. The suggestions that I mentioned above work on desktops as well. I hope this was helpful.Security software should always be running at all times even if you are not on a wireless connection.

Answer 3

It is always best to have an additional software firewall on your laptop, The free zone alarm is a good start but make sure your windows firewall in xp is turned off to avoid conflicts. If you are connected to the Internet through a router make sure you have the wireless station access list set up to your laptop only and wep encryption is also set up so you don't act as a wireless hot spot for everybody nearby.

Answer 4

If you add a second firewall, make sure to disable the built in one from Windows. If someone wants in, they will get in, trust me on that.
Your BIOS password is admin or blank
Your Router password is admin
You probably log on as an Administrator, if you do, well that's the worst security flaw of any Windows system. Log on as a Power User only use the Admin account when you are hardwired or really need to do an Administrative Task, other than that, you barely need to ever log onto the admin acct.

Answer 5

I would suggest a second firewall anyway. If you have norton security that would be better than the standard windows one.

Answer 6

Here is a cool security trick for a wireless system. Once you know that you can connect to the wirles router. Go into the router and disable the ssid. The ssid is what brodcasts its address and that it is available. Once disabled know one but you will know about the wirless network.