Quote:
Originally Posted by jj2me
This question has been difficult for me to answer in searches. (And this thread has the most knowledgeable Chromers I've encountered).
A relative has nothing on her home internet connection except her new Chromebook. Is there any reason to set up wireless security in her router? Is secure https enough?
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Funny you mention relying on SSL (https)
the very week a huge vulnerability was publicized regarding that...but aside from that:
SSL addresses a totally different concern than wifi security on your LAN. Here's a few reasons your relative might still want to use WPA2 (and I do mean 2. WPA2-AES, not plain WPA):
1. Keep away freeloaders. Even if there is nothing on the Chromebook to steal, who wants all your neighbor's guests sucking your bandwidth while you're trying to stream a high-def movie.
2. People using the net for cyber crime might much prefer the NSA track the activity to your relative's door than their own. There was a story not too long a ago where someone used a nearby open wifi net to get kiddie porn. The wifi owner then had to explain to authorities how he had no idea how those pictures got there.
3. As comparatively secure as Chromebooks currently are, as they get popular people will likely discover vulnerabilities. If a hacker is on your local LAN, and finds a way to subvert the device, then SSL doesn't help you. They could be reading your passwords and bank account info as you type it, before it hits your browser's SSL encryption.
So, yeah, there are reasons, even with just a Chromebook.
Plus WPA2-AES has very little impact on performance, and you can pick easy to remember pass-phrases, so why NOT use it?
ApK