Hackers usually focus on targets with higher value than the date found on your home computer; however, with the prevalence of remote work, valuable company data is being exchanged between the company servers and employees who are working from different locations, including their homes. Data can be used to obtain knowledge. Knowledge is power. Power can bring money and influence – and loss of it, if we’re the ones who have our data stolen, leaked or used.
For this reason, as well to maintain the security of our own personal information, you should make your home network more secure.
First, secure the point of access.
To make your home network more secure, let’s start with the access point (AP) to the network, which for most of us is a single device; a combined router and modem, which connects all our home devices to the worldwide web.
Here are some tips to keep your AP more secure:
- Change the network name (called the SSID) on the router’s homepage. It will likely be some default name, related to the type of router you have. This is often found on a sticker underneath or at the back of the router. I suggest a name that doesn’t include any of your personal details or the type of router you have.
- Change the password that came with the router. You can usually find the default password in the same place as the SSID: printed on a sticker on the router. Make sure you create a secure passphrase. (See how to do that here.)
- Use the strongest encryption method you can. WPA3 is the latest available on most routers, and more difficult to crack than WPA2.
- Keep the software/firmware of the router up-to-date. I prefer automatic updates in this case, because it’s easy to overlook otherwise.
- Do not use WPS (Wifi Protected Setup), which is meant to help you easily connect to a network. It also makes it easier for hackers to break into your network.
- Implement a guest network for visitors. When friends, family or someone with a device you don’t trust visits, they can access the internet without potentially compromising other devices or data on your network. You’ll have to create a secondary network name and password for the guest network.
- You also have the option to hide your network’s name (the SSID). Opinion is divided on whether this is worthwhile. Hiding the SSID is a minor layer of defense (in this case, security through obscurity) but it doesn’t hide the network completely. It is hidden from your phone’s or computer’s wifi search, and to access the network you’ll have to enter the network name as well as the password.
My opinion is that hiding the SSID may not be worthwhile: it hides the network name from casual snooping, but that’s all. If someone really wants to, they will be able to find the network name and the encrypted password.
Usually, you can perform most of these tasks by typing 192.168.0.1 – which is the usual address of your home router – in the address bar of your browser. This should take you to your router’s home page, where you should be able to type in the default SSID and password (which you’ll often find on a sticker on the router), and then change the options as you will.
Make sure you understand what you’re changing before you do it, and write down any changes before you apply them. This way, you can have a list of what you might need to undo if anything goes wrong.
Beyond the router: other actions to make your home network more secure.
- Keep your devices updated with the latest security updates and patches.
- Use wired connections to the computers (an Ethernet cable), rather than wireless. Information transferred through a wire is more difficult to hack than over a wireless connection, where the signal is broadcast everywhere, and can easily be captured.
- Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This like a private tunnel running from your network to your destination, that should provide another layer of defense against snooping. Without it, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and others who can access your IP address can see what area you are – at about the suburb level – and the sites you’re going to; also, other people could eavesdrop on your online activity.
- Turn off file sharing – if a hacker manages to infiltrate one system, having file sharing turned off will limit their ability to compromise other machines or gather data from them on the network.
- Unless you need your wifi on while you’re asleep or out, it might be better to turn it off.
Keep your guard up!
Contact me
- Contact page.
- E-mail at info@cybereducation.ro
- Phone call at 0771 754476, Monday to Friday 9:00 - 17:00.
- The contact form below.
Leave a Reply