WEP/WPA

Question: If your mother uses wifi at home to send you e-mail, and your home network is not protected by WEP or WPA, what reasons would you suggest to her for enabling one of these two protocols at home if the liability of reading those e-mails still exists once her message leaves your home, on it’s way to school?

Answer: Both of these forms of security are proven to not substantially defend a wireless network from external hacking, which could lead to the compromising of perhaps valuable information within e-mails. Professional, intentional hackers can still hack into your information even if you use these protocols. However, it is clear that she ought to continue to use it/them, as many people still do today years after proof that they not completely effective, because it beats not having them. These protocols can not defend against pros, but they do still protect information against accidental hacking. As most people are not hackers, especially the people near you that are able to pick up your Wi-Fi, most of the time your information should continue to travel peacefully with the use of these two protocols.