A reminder to change your router password

The following wireless networks are available at the shopping center where I got my hair cut this morning:

Someone, perhaps the proprietor of the hair salon, purchased and installed a wireless router without changing any of the default settings. As a result, a savvy visitor was able to readily log into the administrative dashboard of the router’s settings using the default password. In an attempt to make the owner aware of this security hole, they changed the SSID (broadcast network name) to “ChangeRouterPassword.”

If the person who changed the SSID had wanted to be more malicious or destructive, they certainly could have been. At home, in a school or a business, it is never a good idea to leave router settings unchanged from their default values. The instructions which come with routers explain how to change these values, and other tutorials can be readily Googled online. This business is lucky the person who logged into their router and changed their SSID didn’t have malicious intentions.

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from wesley fryer’s posterous