McAfee Wireless Home Network Security
By Alexander Grundner |
August 17th, 2005
Comments (2)
McAfee enters the wireless home security market with their new Wireless Home Network Security software (MSRP $49.99) . The application, which is intended for novice PC users, provides a one-click interface designed to protect against data theft, unauthorized wireless users and “broadband freeloading.” According to PC Magazine, McAfee’s software can easily add other PCs to the secure network and even configure the router with new WEP (optional: WPA or WPA2) keys that are generated automatically every few days.
In theory this sounds like a great product to have, but my only concern is if you have wireless network connected devices, like a TiVo, media adapter, playstation portable, PDA etc., you’ll have to constantly update those devices’ WEP security keys manually – thus causing more headaches than it will fix. Hopefully, McAfee was smart enough to make the auto-generated WEP keys an option, not a set feature.
August 17th, 2005 at 6:12 pm
I think this is another product that is to extort “novice’s” money. I think popularly written educational paragraph or two on wireless security would solve the problem for a novice. I am sure that paragraph may even be in the spec that comes with the wireless device. Needless to say, the default security is WEP which is proved not to be very secure though it does make the things a bit difficult for your tech-savvy neighbor or war walkers( strollers, runners, etc )
.
If the option to set the security key is not optional or is the default option, then it is not only a headache for adding new devices but could also be a disaster should your computer go kaput. Go find the keys. One will have to reset all of wireless devices. And the list of those nowadays can easily exceed 1 or 2 per household. I am not even talking about small businesses that can fall into this trap with 20-30 computers and, by still being a novice, hire someone who can fix it cause tech support will not recover the key for them.
That’s my take on it and I am open to be corrected.
Cheers,
Mike
http://theaterathome.blogspot.com
August 18th, 2005 at 10:02 am
I’m with you… I also see McAfee taking advantage of the novice consumer. These days many of the hardware vendors like Linksys and D-Link have taken great strides into bundling utilities that make the process of securing a wireless network as easy as a couple clicks. However, I agree that each vendor, either in the printed material or on their website, should have a beginners quick start guide explaining how to setup a wireless network, secure it, and best practices for sharing and administering it.