Secure your Wireless Network

Use MAC Address Filtering
A MAC (Media Access Control) Address is the physical address belonging to the piece of technology that connects to the network (usually the network card). Set up your router to only allow connections from MAC addresses belonging to the computers on the network. To find the MAC address for a computer, follow these steps:

• Open the Command Prompt (go to Start>Run…, type “cmd”, hit Enter).
• In the Command Prompt window, type “ipconfig /all”.
• Find the “Physical Address” listing. This will be six sets of two digits, each separated by a dash, similar to this: 00-12-34-A5-B6-C7.

Once you have found all the MAC addresses for the computers you want on the network, consult your user manual for how to turn on MAC address filtering, and add the MAC addresses you found.

Practice Safe Computing
Occasionally, there are people who will try to bypass all of the security elements you have just set up. It is always a good idea to practice safe computing, no matter what kind of network you are on. Remember to follow these instructions:

• Use hard to guess passwords; avoid easily identifiable passwords like a pet’s name or a birth date. Including numbers, capital letters and special characters will make it harder to crack.
• Change your password regularly.
• Clear your browsing history and cache often.
• Use a password on any network shares.
• Set up login accounts on each computer, and disable the guest account.
• Install anti-virus software on all computers, and update it regularly.
• Install a software firewall on each computer.

2005 Holiday eCommerce Trends

Just shortly after Christmas, it seems that many of the marketing and survey companies focus on Christmas spending. This year, they have focused on the increase in online spending over the past few years. With more consumers on broadband connections every year, it seems that Christmas eCommerce will keep increasing. But what trends can actually be found from all the data released about Christmas spending? There are three areas that seem to have been the focus of many Christmas 2005 reports.

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