Probably many of you don’t realize, but the Internet router is one of the most important devices in our home. It’s the gateway to our Internet access and also prone to exploits by cybercriminals who can sneak into our devices and get access to our system.
Let’s not forget that we live in the age of data breaches, ransomware attacks, and many other online threats. Thus, you should be worried about the security of your home network and take all the needed security measures to increase Wifi security.
Changing your Wi-Fi’s default name makes it harder for malicious attackers to know what type of router you have. If a cybercriminal knows the manufacturer name of your router, they will know what vulnerabilities that model has and then try to exploit them.
Disclosing too much personal information on a wireless network name may expose you to an identity theft operation.
Click here for a step-by-step and simple guide that explains how you can easily change the name of your wireless network.
Change the default password of router to a complex password by using combination of Upper case, lower case and special characters. A strong alphanumeric password would be very hard to crack by any hacker.
Use this guide to set up a strong password for your network. Friends coming over for a visit may complain about the unusual length of your password, but this might discourage them from needlessly consuming your data with boring Facebook or Instagram posts.
Wireless networks come with multiple encryption languages, such as WEP, WPA or WPA2.
To better understand this terminology, WPA2 stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 and is both a security protocol and a current standard in the industry (WPA2 networks are almost everywhere) and encrypts traffic on Wi-Fi networks. It also replaces the older and less secure WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and is an upgrade of the original WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) technology. Since 2006, all Wi-Fi certified products should use WPA2 security.
The good news is that the WPA3 is already here and will replace WPA2. The Wi-Fi Alliance recently announced its next-generation wireless network security standard which aims to solve a common security issue: open Wi-Fi networks. More than that, it comes with security enhancements and includes a suite of features to simplify Wi-fi security configuration for users and service providers.
Disable the wireless home network, in case of extended periods of non-use. By doing this, you are closing any windows of opportunity malicious hackers might attempt to get access to it while you are away.
Here are a few advantages of disabling your wireless network:
Why? First of all, it will provide equal access to the Internet to all the rooms in your home. Secondly, you don’t want to have your wireless signal range reach too much outside your home, where it can be easily intercepted by malicious persons.
To set up your wireless router, you usually need to access an online platform or site, where you can make several changes to your network settings.
Most Wi-fi routers come with default credentials such as “admin” and “password” which are such an easy for malicious hackers to break into.
Changing the default IP address to a less common one is another thing you should consider doing to better secure your home network and make it more difficult for hackers to track it.
To change the IP address of a router, you should follow these steps:
To enhance the wireless network security, you should turn off the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in your router which is what IP addresses are assigned to each device on a network. Instead, you should make use of a static address and enter your network settings.
This means that you should enter into your device and assign it an IP address that is suitable to your router.
Most routers allow you to access their interface only from a connected device. However, some of them allow access even from remote systems.
Once you turned off the remote access, malicious actors won’t be able to access your router’s privacy settings from a device not connected to your wireless network.
To make this change, access the web interface and search for “Remote access” or “Remote Administration“.
The software is an essential part of your wireless network security. The wireless router’s firmware, like any other software, contains flaws which can become major vulnerabilities and be ruthlessly exploited by hackers.
Unfortunately, many wireless routers don’t come with the option to auto-update their software, so you have to go through the hassle of doing this manually.