[indianshaft]

I was wondering if there was software out there that let you protect your wireless card, or let you encrypt it so that no matter what network you were on you would be protected? If not I live in a apt. building that has only an unsecure network besides getting my own internet what can I use to build up my security? Thanks for the advice.

[cwwozniak]

An encrypted wireless connection requires that both your card and the access point it is connecting have encryption enabled.

If you only have one computer connecting to the building unsecured wireless network, you can do a few simple things to make your computer more secure from being accessed from the Internet and from other people on the network.

1) If running Windows, turn off all printer and file sharing.

2) Use a software firewall on your computer to make it more difficult for someone to access your computer over the network connection. Windows Vista includes a firewall and there are free and non-free programs that someone else here may recommend.

3) Run an updated anti-virus program to catch any malicious software that may try to compromise your computer's security or your personal information stored on the computer.

[lunarlander]

If you are connecting from home to the office, use a VPN if your office has it. Then the traffic to and from your office will be transmitted in encrypted form. A Virtue Private Network forms a tunnel between you and your destination.

If you use gmail, then use gmail's SSL encrypted version at https://mail.google.com. The padlock symbol should show up on your IE's address bar.