Security & ipod touch

[~Wingnut~]

Hi!
Managed to set up wifi yesterday at home and can now use the internet on my ipod touch. One thing tho does the touch have like a built in firewall? or some sort of security system?
I never thought about it till last night and must admit I'm not really keyed up on these things.
I have firewall, anti virus etc. on the main computer in the house if that's of any relevence to this?

Many thanx :o)

[Mobius1]

Because your iTouch (more than likely) connects directly through your wi-fi router, then the antivirus and firewall on your PC has no relevance to your Touch. Your router might have what's called an SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall which it will use on all data traffic though.

However, you probably don't need either of these things. Malware doesn't work quite the same way with a device like the iTouch, because it access the net in a very stripped-back kind of way. There are no "plug-ins" or additional software running in the background with the iPod Touch's Safari browser like there are on your PC, so there are fewer avenues for malicious code to enter, or rather, affect the device.

There are known viruses for the device, but because of how software is handled on it, it literally has to be installed by the user in order to do anything as far as I'm aware. For the most part you should be safe.

Out of interest, how have you encrypted your wi-fi network? The best option is WPA2 or WPA. If you're using WEP, I would strongly suggest you step it up to at least WPA at your earliest convenience, as that is going to be the most vulnerable aspect of your connection.

[~Wingnut~]

Hi Mobius

You have me worried now as I have not a clue what you mean when you say WEP & WPA????
I have my wifi through Sky and have a password and Mcafee which is free for the year. Is this not enough? My computer is not wifi as it is old and am only using wifi for the ipod touch.

Thanx for your reply :o)

[Mobius1]

When you say wi-fi through Sky, you mean you have a little box with lights and an antenna on it right? If so, that is a wireless router. In order that you can get internet access on your iPod, it transmits a signal with a network name on it, which showed up on your iPod when you searched for a wireless connection. Still with me?

WEP and WPA refers to the type of security that your wireless broadcast uses. Say for example your wireless signal is called SkyBroadband. Well, just as your iPod can see that signal, so can any other iPod or wireless enabled device in range of your router. Does it have a password that protects it? I.e. when you first connected to it on your iPod, did you have to enter a passcode to access the network? If not, then anybody in range of your wireless router can use your internet connection through that signal.

The best thing to do is consult the manual that will have come with the wireless router. It is very easy to check if it's using a secure mode, and if so, which that is. Most are pre-configured to use WEP straight out of the box, but this is very easy circumvent, which is why I recommended WPA or WPA 2.

Basically, all it does is "lock" your wireless signal, so that only people who know the password can access your internet connection, and only people who have that password can make any sense of the information that is passing between your decide (the iPod) and the router.

[~Wingnut~]

Ahhh gottcha Mobius, thank you for replying :o)

Yes it has a password that protects it, I shall have to look into whether it is WEP or WPA.

Thank you for your help :o)

[Mobius1]

No worries. That's definitely the most important security measure to take when it comes to using your iPod to surf the net around your home.

Post back if you have any worries or problems. I'm sure either I or someone else can put you on the right path. Good luck!

[Gromit]

The iPhone operating system is a stripped down version of the Mac Operating System which has a built in firewall.