Wireless technology, such as Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi 6, has made many of our daily electronics more convenient and flexible. However, wired connections offer distinct advantages over their wireless counterparts when it comes to security.
1 No Wireless Signals to Hack
Wireless networks transmit data through radio waves. These signals spread through your local area and often go beyond physical boundaries, reaching your neighbors and the nearby streets. This openness makes wireless networks vulnerable to attacks like:
- Eavesdropping: Hackers can intercept data packets using readily available tools such as Wi-Fi sniffers, capturing sensitive information like login credentials or personal data.
- Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Bad actors can insert themselves between two communicating devices to intercept or manipulate the transmitted data.
- Rogue Access Points: Unauthorized devices can mimic legitimate wireless access points to lure users into connecting and divulging sensitive information.
In contrast, wired connections transmit data via physical cables, such as Ethernet, which allow you to physically control where data is flowing. This physical control eliminates the possibility of remote interception, ensuring a much higher degree of security.
2 Hacking Wired Connections Requires Physical Access to Devices
With no wireless signals to intercept, hackers typically require physical access to cables and devices to compromise your network. This fundamental difference acts as a deterrent to hackers, as they will have to overcome the following challenges:
- Physical Connection: The attacker must connect their device to the network, requiring access to an Ethernet port, USB, or other physical interfaces.
- Deploy Hardware: Hackers will have to use hardware hacking tools, which cost money. Many of these tools can be expensive and might not be worth the expense.
- Time Constraints: Hackers will have to act swiftly if they get physical access to devices due to the growing risk of getting caught. This time constraint makes it harder for hackers to tap into your network properly.
These physical barriers significantly increase the effort, time, and risk involved for attackers. Moreover, households and organizations often deploy additional countermeasures such as surveillance cameras, intrusion detection systems, and restricted access protocols, making it harder for attackers to infiltrate networks.
Often, the risk of trespassing and getting caught is enough to deter most hackers from trying to hack into wired networks.
Unauthorized hardware connected to a wired network is generally more conspicuous than hacking into a wireless network. Unlike wireless attacks that leave no physical trace, hardware hacking involves tangible devices that can be identified and removed. For example:
- Network Taps or Sniffers: Devices that intercept wired data transmissions are physically connected to the network and can easily be detected.
- Rogue Devices: Unauthorized computers or peripherals such as a USB keylogger must be physically plugged into the network devices, making them easier to trace and remove.
Although more advanced rogue devices, such as OMG cables, are harder to detect, they have a premium cost and are usually reserved for attacking organizations rather than regular households.
4 No Need to Play with Security Settings
Wireless networks often require proper configuration to ensure secure communication. Misconfiguring your network devices and other wireless electronics can make them visible to hacking reconnaissance tools, leading to serious vulnerabilities. In contrast, wired connections are much harder to misconfigure. With a wired connection, you don’t have to worry about:
- Weak or Outdated Encryption Protocols: Older encryption standards like WEP are easily crackable, while stronger protocols like WPA3 require proper implementation.
- Default Credentials: Many wireless routers and security cameras ship with default usernames and passwords that, if unchanged, can be exploited by attackers simply by using tools like
- Open Access Points: Unsecured wireless networks can be a gateway for unauthorized users, leading to potential breaches.
The absence of radio signals in wired networks reduces reliance on complex software settings for basic security. This simplicity eliminates common pitfalls associated with misconfigured wireless settings, making wired networks inherently more secure against user error.
While wireless technology offers unparalleled convenience, wired connections provide superior security due to their inherent characteristics. This doesn’t mean that you should stop using wireless technology altogether. As long as you properly configure wireless devices, limit your smart home and IoT appliances to what is essential, and be mindful of how you set up your local area network for security, having a combination of wired and wireless devices should be a security problem for most households.
