What Is Wireless Modem Card?

A wireless modem card is similar to a traditional dial up modem card as it fits into the PCMCIA slot of your laptop, or the card expansion slot of your computer’s motherboard. The difference is that instead of transmitting and receiving data over copper telephone lines, information is transferred via radio carrier waves to a wireless router. Wireless cards are available for PCs, but generally this technology is used in laptops to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi Hot Spots and home wireless networks.

Wireless modem cards do offer a few unique security issues. With software firms such as Microsoft upgrading their operating systems regularly to combat security threats, more hackers have been moving to attack wireless technology, specifically wireless modem card drivers. These drivers can be manipulated to redirect information, or allow an external user to log onto a computer and access files. Intel has recently reported that the Microsoft Window drivers used with their Centrino Wireless Network hardware also have three known security vulnerabilities. Security holes have also been found in the wireless card drivers of the Apple MacBook.

The security issues around wireless modem cards seem more pronounced due to the environment in which they are used. Almost no one is going to set up a PC at a public wireless hot spot, which means laptops are more susceptible to hacking in these areas only because they are the only target available. Its not that their security is terrible, as it is only slightly inferior to home wireless networks, it is simply that they are more exposed to threats by their very nature.

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