How Can I Avoid Transmitting Trojans, Viruses, And Other Malware On My Local Wireless Network?

Everyone has gone wireless.

Well at least most people have.

Laptops are selling off the store shelves faster than desktops, especially with the new netbooks leading the way.

This means that more and more people are going to want to have wireless networks inside of their homes.

Even if they are in a small apartment and a wired network may be the better option, people are still going to choose to go wireless.

It is less messy than a wired network and easier to carry your laptop around.

Wireless Malware

But one thing that the people who are buying all of the new wireless networks may not know, is that they can transmit software that is bad for the computer through them.

This means that if you have a desktop and a laptop, if one is infected, then they both are in danger.

I will show you a couple of ways that will allow you to prevent this from happening.

There are two main ways that you can pick up a piece of malware and spread it through your home network.

One, you can download it from the internet and install it on your computer without your knowledge.

Or two, you can go to another wireless network and pick up the bad software from there.

Either way, once the software has been installed on your system, it can then proceed to propagate itself onto the other computers on your network.

Once it does this, you will have to scan more than just the computer that was originally infected.

You will have to scan all of the computers that are on your wireless LAN.

This can take several hours, and it can be a great source of irritation (source: my kids!).

Especially if it could have been avoided.

Don’t Accept Sweets From Strange Networks

One of the ways that you can avoid this from happening, is to not go on any wireless networks that you do not know the owner of.

This is always the danger of going on a strange network.

Some people deliberately leave their network open so that this sort of thing can happen – a basic version of a hacker-owned honeypot if you like.

If you do decide to go on a strange network, make sure that you have a software firewall installed on your computer.

This will help keep you protected from any danger coming from the network that you are on.

Also, as you have been warned a dozen of other times before, when you surf the internet, make sure you are aware of what sites that you are going on.

Some web sites are dangerous and are waiting for unsuspecting people to visit.

This is the main cause of malware and one you must always be aware of.

If you do download something from a strange site, make sure that you run your updated anti virus program soon afterwards.

Your local network can become a dangerous place if you are not careful.

If you want to make sure that you are not infecting the other computers on your network, follow these simple rules and they should keep you safe.

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