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It has been proven over and over that WEP security is worthless. If you are trying to figure out which wireless security standard is right for you, I will help.

WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy has been around since 1999, which is a long time ago if you consider the speed of technological development. A couple of years later exploits were found against WEP which allowed it to be cracked extremely fast. There are tons of videos on Youtube displaying how fast and easy a WEP crack is.

If you are looking to get up-to-date with the new security standards, I highly recommend using or switching to WPA2.

In order to switch to WPA2, your wireless devices must all be compatible with this type of encryption. Some older computers may need a simple software update to be compatible. Everything manufactured within the last few years support WPA2 out of the box.

WPA2 is still crackable to an extent. But with a few modifications to your encryption settings, you won’t have a problem.

If you have a home network you will probably be using WPA2 PSK (Pre-Shared Key). Aircrack-ng, a popular wireless cracking program can only crack WPA2 networks that use PSK. Therefore it is very important you set up your PSK properly. WPA2 networks with dictionary words or short length words can only be cracked.

Your PSK can contain anywhere from 8-63 characters. You don’t necessarily have to use all 63 characters, but your PSK should be fairly long containing random characters including several special characters. This will ensure your wireless network is safe and secure!

In Summary:

*Ditch WEP

*Use WPA2 Encyrption

*Setup a secure PSK as I explained above

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I am, and have always been an avid eBay user. Recently I have noticed that eBay buyers just don’t seem to want to pay, and other scams are now taking place. I rarely sell things on eBay now since I tend to use Craigslist to get rid of my stuff .

Years ago, I used to sell things a lot more often on eBay since Craigslist was not created/widespread (not sure which). Lately, eBay has been upsetting me since almost every item I have sold in the past year (maybe 5) has had an issue.

One of my recent problems was when I tried to sell an unopened Xbox Live subscription card. A buyer purchased it and then immediately sent me payment. He then sent me a private eBay message requesting that I just send the subscription code over email. His reasoning was that it’s faster than mailing it, and cheaper. That was a HUGE red flag right there.

He immediately filed a charge-back on Paypal to get his money back. I had to notify Paypal and eBay who suspended the account. Paypal tried to charge me a $20 fee for the charge-back the guy filled, since that’s apparently what the credit card company charges Paypal when they take their money back.  I called Paypal and they refunded me the $20 and everything was alright. I tracked his Facebook down, and he was not from the U.S. so there was not much else I could do.

This is just one example of the many scams that haunt eBay users everyday. I understand eBay is doing their best at preventing it, but it’s a losing battle with the technology these days.

There are serveral things you can do, and watch out for when you are using eBay:

1) Set buyer requirements – This will ensure your buyers have quality feedback in the past.

2) Use Shipping Tracking – Always ship your items with tracking and then upload it to Paypal. This shows Paypal that you did ship the item, and makes it extremely hard for someone to file a charge-back on you.

3) Don’t trust any eBay emails – If you receive an email from eBay don’t click on any links inside of it. Instead, log into eBay and check your “Messages,” if the email was legitimate, it would be listed there as well.

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