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The company last week quietly patched vulnerabilities in the WPA2 protocol used to secure wireless networks, but did not reveal the fix until today. Microsoft today revealed that it quietly patched Windows last week against vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) protocol used to secure wireless networks. Details of the security update were only published Monday to Microsoft's Security Update Guide, the catalog-like portal that earlier this year replaced the decades-old practice of delivering explanatory bulletins. All supported versions of Windows received the update, according to the catalog listing, including Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server...

"Krack Attack" allows hackers to steal credit cards, bank info and more. Researchers have discovered a key flaw in the WPA2 WiFi encryption protocol that could allow hackers to intercept your credit card numbers, passwords, photos and other sensitive information. The flaws, dubbed "Key Reinstallation Attacks," or "Krack Attacks," are in the WiFi standard and not specific products. That means that just about every router, smartphone and PC out there could be impacted, though attacks against Linux and Android 6.0 or greater devices may be "particularly devastating," according to KU Leuven University's Mathy Vanhoef and Frank Piessens, who found the...

I was viewing some of my neighbors' wi-fi connections on my tablet computer and noticed that most are using the outdated WEP network security standard. This was deemed to be insecure a decade ago and was replaced by the WPA and, later, the WPA2 security standard. Someone in "listening range" of a wi-fi hotspot using the WEP encryption standard could, potentially, break into the network relatively easily and disrupt it. Many internet service providers (ISP) still provide WEP as the default, but they are now required to also provide WPA. So it is a good idea to insure that your...

What a difference a year makes. President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t even taken office and we’re experiencing climate change. Not the global warming variety that keeps bypassing the bone-chilling American winter. It’s change in D.C. Obama, who promised a government of “change” unveiled a switcheroo in his Jan. 2 radio address, also available on the Change.gov Web site. Obama is releasing details of his economic recovery plan that includes spending hundreds of billions of dollars. It also entails a major jobs component. “The No. 1 goal of my plan, which is to create 3 million new jobs, more than 80 percent...

Thanx for the advice about upgrading security settings. I called linksys and got sheila in the Philippines and set up security with WEP ten digit settings. But, when someone hacks into your computer via wireless, can they read your hard drive? Can they watch you on the net? Or do they just establish a connection for their own wireless computer?