Posey's Tips & Tricks
Choosing the Right SSID for Your Network
Attracting attention, whether through a default or funny Wi-Fi name, could lead to a security issue.
Recently, I have had a lot of new people moving into my neighborhood, and I have been amused by some of the fun and creative names that some of my new neighbors use for their Wi-Fi networks. At the same time, however, the appearance of so many new wireless networks has gotten me thinking about the best way to pick a network name if you are concerned about security and privacy. It's probably fair to say that there is no such thing as the perfect SSID and that every category of SSID has its advantages and disadvantages. Even so, I wanted to give you a few things to think about.
Including Your Name in a SSID
One of the most common SSID naming strategies is to include your name as a part of the SSID (PoseysNetwork for example). The advantage to this approach is of course, that the SSID is easy to remember. The most obvious disadvantage is that it positively identifies your network. If you have a tech-savvy neighbor who doesn't like you, then your Wi-Fi network could be a tantalizing target.
There is at least one more issue with using your name within your SSID, and this is something that I have seen several times over the years. Let's pretend for a moment that my SSID was Posey1234 (it isn't). Think about that particular SSID from the standpoint of a hacker. Posey isn't a super common name, so it's unlikely that the 1234 exists as a means of differentiating the network from another Posey's network in the neighborhood. That being the case, the 1234 probably has other significance. For example, Posey1234 might be the first portion of an email address, such as [email protected]. The point is that these types of SSIDs can give away information that would make it easier for someone to compromise your security.
Default SSIDs
One of the worst things that you can do from a security standpoint is to use a default SSID (Linksys, Netgear, etc.) or an SSID that looks like a default SSID (Cisco-921). An attacker may assume that if you are using a default SSID, then you are probably using other default or weak settings. Even if your access point is not using a default password, the use of a default SSID may subject your network to extra scrutiny from those who have bad intentions.
Another problem with using a default SSID or an SSID that seems as though it may be a default SSID is that doing so can sometimes give away information about your network. Suppose for a moment that I decided to call my wireless network Cisco-921. Such a name would make it obvious that I was using a Cisco 921 router. Anyone who wanted to hack this network would likely begin by doing a bit of research to find out if there are any known vulnerabilities associated with the Cisco 921.
Challenge Accepted
When choosing an SSID, I also recommend staying away from words or phrases like hackproof, classified, HackMeIfYouCan or that sort of thing. Such names are basically an invitation for anyone within range to try to compromise your network.
Creative or Funny Names
There are definitely some amusing Wi-Fi network names in my neighborhood, some of which are borderline obscene, so I'm not going to repeat the name here. Even so, there are plenty of other creative Wi-Fi names. I know someone for example, who lives in a neighborhood called Lake Club and uses the SSID MayorOfLakeClub. Some of the other ones that I have seen include GetOffMyLAN or NoMoreMRWiFi. Of course, a Google search can reveal countless others.
It's been said that having a funny Wi-Fi name can make your network standout and that you might attract the wrong kind of attention as a result. Personally, I think that using a funny Wi-Fi name is probably harmless unless someone takes seriously something that you intend as a joke. Names like FBI-Van or PoliceSurveillance for example, could entice someone to dig deeper.
As I said in the beginning, there is probably no such thing as a perfect SSID. Even so, there are two categories of SSIDs that might attract marginally less attention than some of the others that I have talked about.
The first category is a name that blends in with every other access point in your neighborhood. A name like StarWarsFan or GoWildcats probably isn't going to stand out from the other SSIDs used in your neighborhood and in most cases, and it's probably not going to be super obvious to your neighbors that it's your Wi-Fi network (assuming that you are not an extreme Star Wars or Kentucky Wildcats fan).
Another approach is to use a random string of characters as your Wi-Fi name. For example, you might call your network X50927B. Most people would probably glance right over a name like that. Others might assume that the name belongs to a transient device as opposed to a permanent residential Wi-Fi network.
While it's true that some SSID names are going to attract more attention than others, there is far more to Wi-Fi security than just picking a good SSID. The best SSID in the world won't help you if you have a weak password and an outdated encryption protocol. Conversely, using a name like ComeHackMe might not be a problem if you really do have top notch security.
About the Author
Brien Posey is a 22-time Microsoft MVP with decades of IT experience. As a freelance writer, Posey has written thousands of articles and contributed to several dozen books on a wide variety of IT topics. Prior to going freelance, Posey was a CIO for a national chain of hospitals and health care facilities. He has also served as a network administrator for some of the country's largest insurance companies and for the Department of Defense at Fort Knox. In addition to his continued work in IT, Posey has spent the last several years actively training as a commercial scientist-astronaut candidate in preparation to fly on a mission to study polar mesospheric clouds from space. You can follow his spaceflight training on his Web site.