Preventing Hackers From Stealing Your Money

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After you have connected the router, you will need to consult the installation manual to perform the following tasks. I cannot address all of configuration possibilities of the routers, so I am going to give you general instructions.

1) Hold the reset button on the back of the router for 45 seconds continuously.
2) Connect to your router’s web-based interface using the default login and password.
3) Change the default login and password using at least eight (8) alphanumeric characters that cannot be found sequentially in any dictionary.
4) If you use wireless, enable the wireless option and change the following settings: Enable wireless security (use WPA2 Pre-Shared Key if your systems support it, WEP is not secure enough), set a password that is NOT THE SAME as your router login password but still using the same guidelines as step 3, change the broadcast channel to something other than the default (usually channel six).
5) Disable uPnP through the router, if possible.
6) Set up all necessary port forwarding fields. If you don’t know how to, follow the instruction at portforward.com.
7) Set up a static IP for ALL systems that will access the Internet on the network, and be sure they are outside the DHCP range of your router. If you don’t know how to do this, see portforward.com for instructions.
8) Enable the hardware firewall and disable anonymous requests from hitting your computer, enable NAT (Network Address Translation), and filter IDENT requests.
9) (Optional) Set up QoS for your poker programs to improve speeds.

This is extremely important: Disable uPnP through Windows XP. http://grc.com/UnPnP/UnPnP.htm has a step-by-step guide. This is what allows people to run Trojan programs on your system without using port forwarding to gain access to your system.

After you have taken these steps, move forward to Step Four.

At this point you can connect your router to the cable/DSL modem. Be sure to power cycle the router when you connect it to ensure a good firmware restart and connection to the ISP. Go into the router’s configuration and ensure that your computer is outside the DHCP range and using a static IP address as you set up in Step Three, Substep Seven.

At this point, you should update all of your software definitions and hardware drivers. Update the Anti-Virus definitions first, then your firewall (if you have a software one), then the hardware drivers. Reboot the system. Run Windows Update and download and install ALL of the updates. Reboot the system.

Scan the system for spyware/adware.

If you have a software firewall, disable Windows Firewall. If you don’t, you should probably leave it active, though it doesn’t do a whole lot. If you don’t want to go through the pain of application protection through ZoneAlarm (I don’t), you can use ISS BlackIce Defender without AP to stop basic port scans and see incoming transmissions.

Optional: At this point I recommend writing down all of the settings you used in Step Three to setup the router successfully, and install a third-party firmware that is compatible with your router, such as dd-wrt for Linksys WRT54G and GS routers. They provide added features and security, as well as the ability to boost the wireless signal up to ten times the strength of the default firmware for better connectivity.

Optional: If you have a software firewall, be sure to monitor the programs that you allow outgoing access. Don’t trust things that require keyboard/mouse hooks.

Now you have a pretty good setup through Windows XP and should remain fairly secure. However, no matter how well you set up a network and a system, it can always be exploited. Be sure to follow the directions below to help minimize the chance you will be hacked:

– Run a full anti-virus scan every other day. Let it run while you sleep.
– Update the anti-virus definitions every week, at least.
– Scan your system everyday for spyware/adware. Let it run while you sleep.
– Stay on top of Windows Updates. Download and install them constantly.
– Check technical sites like AnandTech or Slashdot once in awhile for potential hardware/software exploits that Windows Update doesn’t catch immediately.
– Don’t use peer-to-peer file sharing (I named sample programs and services, but they are all censored. I can only hope you know what LW, KZ, and BT stand for.) Obtain your files legally to minimize risk. Never install pirated software. I realize that everyone on the board probably does (including me), but your risk goes up if you do this on the same machine you play poker on. You have been warned.
– If you run a server for anything (FTP, streaming audio/video, etc), buy another cheap computer and use that for those operations, or buy a computer solely for online poker with no other functionality.

I hope this guide helps you in setting up a secure computer and network to protect yourself. While some of the steps may seem a bit extreme, this is meant to be a top-to-bottom guide to protect you to the fullest extent. It’s up to you on how much you want to follow, if at all.

Kyle Boddy

Preventing Hackers From Stealing Your Money

Step Three: Configuring Network Pieces

Step Four: Connecting Your Computer to the Internet

Step Five: Ongoing Security Procedures