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For the last four months, I've been subscribed to Comcast Broadband Internet at home. Service has been very good, but occasionally my connection is extremely slow without a discernable pattern. This afternoon, I heard on a Security Now! podcast that frequently users of file-sharing programs will routinely have their IP addresses re-assigned to new users, and those new users with the old IP address become subjected to large volumes of file-sharing requests intended for the original user of the IP address. This could result in severely degraded network performance for the new user for no apparent reason.

This reminded me of a security tip I've seen for operators of home Wi-Fi networks which is to consider connecting your wireless access point (AP) to a power outlet timer. These are the timers that people often use when on vacation to activate their home's lights at predetermined times. Similarly, a timer can be used to shutdown an AP during times outside the normal usage windows (i.e. 1AM - 6AM). This is in line with the old security tenet that the only safe computer (or network) is the one that's turned off. Shutting down a computer network during off-hours will reduce its exposure to snoops, and provide your Internet access provider to assign your AP a new IP address. Using the same IP address over a prolonger period increases the likelihood of attack since your traffic is coming from a semi-permanent source. I'm going to experiment with this in the near future and will post my results on this blog.