Setting up your Wifi Encryption can be a daunting task and many people are relieved once they have successfully protected their wireless connection and don’t have to worry about it any more. As it turns out, though, this may not always be the case.
An alarming rate of emails have reached our inboxes lately by users claiming that the encryption of their wireless networks has been reset on it’s own.
A quick search on Google revealed that other users experienced the same problem and that there are rumors of firmware errors.
It seems like some Access Points mysteriously start broadcasting an unsecured connection under the same network name that was correctly set up with encryption. The network you thought was secured is all of the sudden open to all your neighbors who can happily and anonymously use your online traffic, spy on you, or even hack into your computer.
The way Windows manages wireless networks adds to the problem: Once you have set up a connection (with or without encryption), Windows no longer bothers asking for your approval every time you log on to it. So even if your network is not protected anymore, as long as you don’t verify, you would never notice.
According to the emails we received, this seems to have happened more to Linksys routers than to any other brand. Unfortunately, Linksys did not want to comment when we asked if that was a known issue and if they are planning to fix it.
In any event, until there is more information about this problem, we recommend you verifying the status of your Wifi security and encryption regularly. The above screenshot shows you how a secure wireless network is displayed under Windows XP. You should also make sure you are using WPA or WPA2 encryption and not WEP. Finally, always install the latest firmware on your wireless routers and use secure passwords.
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