7 Tips To Make Your Home Network Safe & Secure
While you do everything you can to do as much work as possible at home, internet criminals see their chance in this uncertain time.
As our digital world is growing day by day, more and more dangers lurk: theft, fraud, privacy violation - the list is long.
Of course, you would definitely want to keep working as safely as possible, and that is why, I have 7 tips for you to make your network at home as safe as possible.
Secure Your WiFi Password
One of the easiest things you can do to keep your home network secure is to keep your WiFi password secure.If you or your children have shared your WiFi password with friends or neighbours, then they can enter it and access your home network indefinitely.
Once you make your WiFi password public, it doesn't take much time to spread around even further.
Yes, I can understand if someone you know asks for WiFi access during a visit, then it's hard to say no, but you can make it difficult for people to tell the password to others by
- making the password stronger with alpha numeric keywords
- entering the password yourself on their device (because phones don't allow the user to read the entered password, well unless they use some tweaks) & then changing it when they are gone
These simple steps can be enough to limit who exactly has access to you network.
Change The Password Regularly
Though there is no hard and fast rule about how often you need to change the WiFi password. However, you should change it regularly to keep your network as secure as possible.Also, if you experience slow internet speed then try changing the WiFi password, because you may not remember of sharing your WiFi with your neighbours who may still be using your network which may slow down your network experience.
Change The Router's Administrator Credentials
Do not use the default username and password provided by the manufacturer of your router. These are much too easy to trace and can make you vulnerable to a hacker.If someone comes, they can change the administrator password, and you'll be out of your own network.
Without access to the administrator account on your router, you cannot perform tasks to improve your WiFi security.
And that's not all, everything you send to the internet goes through your router, so if a hacker use any programs to break into your router, he can also learn about your activity and a variety of information too.
Make Your Connection Secure
Typically, three types of WiFi security systems are used to secure transmissions, so that, only the end user's device and the WiFi router can read the contents of a transmission. These are Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2). Of these three, you should use WPA2.Use VPN When Using Public WiFi
Many people use public WiFi at coffee shops, metro stations, airports, etc., to stay connected, both professionally and personally. However, an unsecured WiFi connection allows you to create a simple gateway for hackers to access your personal information and data.How?
For this the hacker will take a nearby seat in your favourite coffee shop with a mobile router in your pocket.
He then changes the password and network name of his router to match that of the coffee shop - for example Public Network or Coffee Cup WiFi, etc.
Because your smartphone does not see the difference between the two network names and automatically chooses the strongest signal, it may just be that you are unknowingly logged into the hacker's network.
Once your device connects to the hacker's network, it becomes easy for him to retrieve your data from the air.
One way to counter this is by not logging in to a public network at all, but of course in some cases there could some emergency or maybe you just want to be able to work online in your favorite coffee shop. In such a scenario your best solution lies in using a secure VPN connection.
When connecting via VPN, all communication data is encrypted regardless of the network settings, so, it cannot be viewed by outsiders.
Watch Out For Phishing Emails
Today, cyber criminals are more active than ever. Therefore, pay close attention to what you receive in your mailbox.Do not press links in suspicious emails, and avoid opening any unknown attachments.
Do not enter any details for e-mail messages that you do not expect, or if you see them coming come from an unknown sender. And make sure to notify your IT department immediately when you receive such emails.
Follow The Guidelines Of Your Organization
Last but not the least, always follow your organization's guidelines for using hardware and software.Consult with the IT administrator before you even think of downloading an app. They know best which apps you can and cannot download.
COMMENTS