Securing Home Network
In today's world, the internet is a basic necessity for existence. It has opened a world of opportunities for everyone, regardless of technical knowledge. With all of our devices connected to the internet, it is crucial to ensure our connection is secure. For many of us, this starts at home. Ensuring your home Wi-Fi connection is secure helps prevent your family from falling victim to bad actors online.
There are several tips to help secure your home Wi-Fi network against unauthorized access:
- Change the name of your router. The default ID is assigned by the manufacturer. Changing this will ensure that your router name is unique to you and won't be easily guessed by others.
- Change the preset passphrase on your router. Leaving the default passphrase unchanged makes it easier for bad actors to access your network. A strong passphrase is a sentence that is at least 12 characters long.
- Review security options. When choosing your router's level of security, opt for WPA2, if available, or WPA; these levels are more secure than the WEP option.
- Create a guest passphrase. Some routers allow for guests to use networks via separate guest passphrases. If you have visitors to your home, it is a good idea to set up a guest network.
- Turn on firewall. A firewall is like a guard who watches for attempts to access your system and blocks communications with sources you don't permit. Your operating system and/or security software likely comes with a pre-installed firewall, but make sure you turn these features on and keep them up to date.