Wireless Networking at the NIPS Conference

Wireless networking will be available in Vancouver near the conference rooms. Wireless networking will be available in Whistler in all conference areas and guest rooms. You will need to supply your own 802.11b/g (a.ka. Airport or WiFi) wireless network adapter for your laptop or PDA - unfortunately the popularity of this service precludes us supplying either wireless adapters or individual technical support for the wireless network.

Network Configuration

Your computer must be configured to use DHCP ("Obtain an IP automatically") with the following wireless network settings:

•  Hyatt Regency in Vancouver (Tutorials and Conference Sessions):
• • Wireless Network Name (SSID): NIPS
  • Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP):  disabled
•  Westin in Whistler (Workshops) :
• • Wireless Network Name (SSID): datavalet-Westin
  • Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP):  disabled
  
  
• Hilton in Whistler (Workshops):
• • Wireless Network Name (SSID): Wayport_Access
    
  • Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP):  disabled

Outbound email (SMTP) server: mail.nips.cc

Detailed Instructions: Windows Mac

Security

The wireless network is a shared, public resource and as such should never be trusted. We provide only the network connection: protecting your system is your responsibility. We have a firewall which will protect against direct attacks from the general Internet but cannot prevent an infected laptop from infecting other systems or block malicious content which you encounter while using email or browsing web.

Before using the conference network you should complete the following checklist to harden your system:

1. Make sure every account on your system uses a strong password
2. Apply any available security updates for your operating system:
3. • Microsoft Windows
   • Apple Mac OS X
   • Debian Linux
   • Ubuntu Linux
   • Red Hat Linux
4. Install a personal firewall or activate the built-in firewall support included in most modern operating systems:
5. • Microsoft's guide to securing your PC
   • Mac OS X: Guide to enabling the Firewall

It is strongly recommended that you use secure remote access protocols such as SSH or a VPN when accessing any service which requires you to login or enter sensitive information.

The protocols listed below are insecure by design - anyone on the same network may easily obtain your password, copy your data or hijaack your login sesion. Please ask your system administrator about secure alternatives for any services which you wish to use.

• Telnet
• FTP without SSL
• POP3 without SSL or APOP
• IMAP without SSL or CRAM-MD5
• HTTP without SSL - always check for a closed lock icon in your browser before entering passwords, credit card numbers, confidential information, etc.