Internet & Home Networking    What About Firewalls?  
What about my cable/DSL router?   What about wireless networks?

Internet and Home Networking

Want to get connected to the Internet, but confused about the options? Wish you could share files between your home computers? Concerned about computer security? BEK Inc can help! We would be happy to assist you with finding and setting up broadband Internet in your home, as well as using home networking equipment to connect and protect all the systems in your house. We can also suggest a strong hardware firewall to provide the most up-to-date security available to guard your data.

What about firewalls?

You’ve heard that the Internet is dangerous; you already know that you need some sort of protection from hackers, viruses, and spyware. But maybe you’re thinking, “My computer already has a built-in firewall, isn’t that good enough?” While software-based firewalls (such as the built-in Windows Firewall, or Zone Alarm) provide a modicum of defense, there are several disadvantages:

For most home or small business networks we at BEK Inc would recommend a small, hardware-based UTM (Unified Threat Management) firewall from one of several partners.

What about my cable/DSL router?

If you already have a basic home network, you probably started with a simple cable/DSL router. This has a functionality called NAT (Network Address Translation) that many people assume to be “good enough” protection from Internet attacks. Yet depending on NAT for packet defense is like assuming that you won’t get calls if you have an unlisted phone number—there are still plenty of ways around the system.
A good firewall system will not only block unexpected incoming traffic, but it will look inside each connection to see what’s going on using three inspection tools:

Universal Threat Management firewalls from SonicWALL, Fortinet, or Cisco are able to provide up-to-the-minute protection against a broad range of Internet-based attacks, including viruses, Denial-of-Service, man-in-the-middle, and more. BEK Inc is fully trained and ready to help you pick the one that’s right for your network.

What about wireless networks?

Many people today enjoy the freedom of having a wireless network within their homes. With inexpensive hardware you can be set up to use your laptop from anywhere inside your house within minutes. But not everyone realizes they are sharing this freedom outside the boundaries of their property.

If you have not secured your Wi-Fi connection properly, you may be sharing your Internet connection with your neighbors and anyone who passes by! And not only may they be getting free Internet, but they may be getting free access right into your home network, right into your computer.

At BEK Inc we will be glad to assist you in selecting a Wireless Access Point that is appropriate for your home and configuring the WEP/WPA encryption options to keep it safe from prying eyes.

But I don’t have any data to protect!

This is perhaps the scariest thought here: many of our clients and friends tell us, “I don’t have anything on my computer that I’m worried about the hackers getting into.” If you have used your computer to purchase products online, then there is important personal information stored in your computer that you do not want anyone else to get a hold of. Think of the following types of data that could be on your home PC that you wouldn’t want to get into the wrong hands:

• Your bank account and credit or debit card numbers
• Last year’s tax returns
• Passwords or PINs that you use in more than one place
• Private emails and family pictures

Another way to think about securing your home computer is this: What else would you miss if all the data on the computer were gone? Let BEK Inc help you protect the time and money you’ve put into your home computer and network. Give us a call!