There are many reasons someone or some organization out in the Internet might want to penetrate your Windows computer. Here are a few examples –
To secretly install software that steals your passwords or financial information
To enrol your computer as a bot that secretly sends out junk email or spam To implant software that tracks your personal web surfing habits
To destroy programs or data on your PC
Your goals are to—
Prevent installation of secretly-installed software or malware Identify and eliminate any malware that does get installed
Prevent malware from sending information from your computer out into the web
Prevent any other secret penetration of your computer
...so writes Howard Fosdick, in his free eBook, ‘How to Secure Your Windows Computer and Protect Your Privacy — with Free Software’. The book covers a range of important topics from virus prevention to unauthorized data access. If you want to protect yourselves from the bad guys, do yourself a favour - read this eBook!
Regarding WiFi, this document advises you not to broadcast your SSID -("assign your system a unique name, tell it not to broadcast that name") but this view is now considered misguided, as the SSID can still be detected by the sort of person with the skills to potentially compromise your network anyway, and just gives a false sense of security. You will also miss out on the various benefits of the SSID being visible. See attached URL below.
Do use WPA encryption (as mentioned) but also consider MAC filtering, which is like a whitelist that limits the PCs that can connect, to a list that you explicitly identify.
Regarding WiFi security, one can find current web articles both for and against "Disabling SSID Broadcasting" and "MAC Address Filtering." The "against" articles usually disparage these two technologies because they are easy to hack and lead to a false sense of security. The guide urges using both (the Appendix covers MAC Address Filtering).
Based on feedback from yourself and others, I think the guide could be improved by mentioning that WiFi security is an area in which there is not yet a consensus on all the steps one should take for good security. This will hopefully change as we move into the next generation technologies (beyond WPA and 802.11G into WPA2 + and 802.11N).
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