Securing Your Home Network

Sometimes the best thing to say about a wireless router in your house is that once it's set, you forget it exists.As long as the devices that need the Wi-Fi connection can get on and function, that's all that matters, right?
Maybe, but we also live in the age of leaks, wiki and otherwise. If you're worried about the security of your home and by extension your personal data especially from hackers who could casually sit in a car outside and get access to your systems then you need to put a padlock on that wireless. You may also want to prevent others from using your network, and freeloaders alike.

Change Your Router Admin Username and Password

Every router comes with a generic username and password if they come with a password at all. You need it the first time you access the router. After that, change them both. Immediately. The generic usernames are a matter of public record for just about every router in existence; not changing them makes it incredibly easy for someone who gets physical access to your router to mess with the settings.

Change the Network Name

A service set identifier (SSID) is a unique name that identifies a particular wireless local area network (WLAN). All wireless devices on a WLAN must use the same SSID to communicate with each other. Manufacturers set a default SSID at the factory, and this SSID typically identifies the manufacturer or the actual device. An attacker can use the default SSID to identify the device and exploit any of its known vulnerabilities.sometimes set the SSID to a name that reveals their organization, their location, or their own name. This information makes it easier for the attacker to identify the specific business or home network based upon an SSID that explicitly displays the organization’s name, organization’s location, or an individual’s own name. So be careful and make a name something new.

Activate Encryption

Some home routers still use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which is not recommended. In fact, if your router or device supports only WEP, but not other encryption standards, you should upgrade your network device.One newer standard, WPA2-AES, encrypts the communication between the wireless router and the wireless computing device, providing stronger authentication and authorization between the devices.

Turn Off WPS

Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) provides simplified mechanisms to configure moderately secure wireless networks. A design flaw that exists in the WPS specification for the PIN authentication significantly reduces the time required to brute force the entire PIN because it allows an attacker to know when the first half of the 8-digit PIN is correct. The lack of a proper lock out policy after a certain number of failed attempts to guess the PIN on many wireless routers makes a brute-force attack much more likely to occur.

Use a Firewall

Firewalls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission. While anti-virus software scans incoming email and files, a firewall is like a guard, watching for attempts to access your system and blocking 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 on these features.

-Be Careful Always-

~CS