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With more and more smart home gadgets and apps available, it is even increasingly important to have good security for home networks. Our computers, TVs, baby monitors, alarms, heating, refrigerators, tablets, phones, and tablets can be vulnerable to a plethora of security risks.
Securing your home network is essential. If hackers can gain access to your home network, they can steal personal and financial information, infect your devices with viruses and malware, commit cyber-crime from your device or launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.
To protect your home and keep it safe from hackers, there are several steps you can take:
1. Make sure you have a password and user name that are unique. Passwords should be at least eight characters and combine numbers, letters and special characters. Do not use your name as the user name and definitely do not use “user”.
2. Use wireless encryption. Encryption isn’t as scary as it sounds. The most secure type of encryption for a home network is WPA2 so make sure your devices are WPA2 compliant.
3. Use a VPN – a VPN adds an additional layer of privacy to your network, allowing you to surf from other IP addresses or hide your identity.
4. Hide your network by changing the default name from the manufacturer.
5. Keep your software up to date. Needless to say, keeping software up to date is key to good security practices whether it is your network router or your computer software.
6. Use the firewalls that are included with your router.
7. Use the MAC filtering options to allow only approved addresses to access your network.