What’s in a name? If it’s your wireless network name, a lot. You might not think much of it but your wireless network name can be nearly as big of a security issue as your wireless network password.
Most of us don’t really give our wireless network name a lot of thought. Many older routers don’t give it much of a thought either. In the past, router manufacturers had default network names that were the same across all routers.
This situation made the task of cracking the passwords of networks with default network names easier for hackers. How? Hackers could use rainbow tables that were precomputed with the network name to crack the password faster since the network name was already known.
Check out our article on Rainbow Tables to learn more about rainbow table-based attacks.
What Makes a Network Name Secure?
Much like a network password, the more random and complex your wireless network name (SSID) the better for preventing attacks that rely on default network names.
Thankfully, many newer routers feature unique network names out of the box. They might be based on the router’s MAC address, their serial number, or some completely random number.
You should check the list of Most Common SSIDs to make sure that you’re network name isn’t on this list. If it is, chances are good that someone has already produced the precomputed rainbow table to help with hacking your network password (pre-shared key).
You might think your funny network name is clever and unique, but it might not be.
Check the list and make sure it’s not one of the top 1000 network names
Is My Network Name Unique Enough?
After you’ve tested your network name against the list of most common network names and determined that its not on the list, you can begin crafting your new network name.
Generally, as it goes with passwords, the longer the network name the better.
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