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In today's world with countless multiple cybercrimes and attacks taking place each day, it becomes your highest priority to protect all your data and devices available at home or personal workspace. The most common at-home gadgets range from computers, tablet, phones, TV, Wi-Fi etc. Wi-Fi among all these is the most used. Did you know that you’re Wi-Fi router needs protection too?
You may be unaware of the security risks that comes up when you do not have a protected secure Wi-Fi router. Wi-Fi is nowadays leading the list of devices that hackers love to exploit. Wi-Fi hacking can be an outcome of even the slightest loophole you create while connecting the devices or setting up the router.
If hackers can gain access to your Wi-Fi network, they can easily steal all confidential information including your personal and financial data, infect your devices with viruses and malware. Accessing your Wi-Fi network automatically gives them the benefit of committing cyber-crime from your device or even launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.
You can follow few easy and effective precautions to protect your Wi-Fi router which will make all potential hackers scratch their head.
Here’s a list of the ten amazing tricks to protect your Wi-Fi Router from potential hackers:
All Wi-Fi routers come with their default user ID and password which can be easily hacked. It is highly recommended to change the username and password mentioned on your router. You should create a strong new password which cannot be easily cracked. This new password should have a minimum of eight characters combining of alphabetical characters, numbers, and special symbols.
SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the ID or name of your network that can be viewed by anyone with a wireless device within a specified range. In general terms, it is the Wi-Fi name which you look for when connecting wireless computers and devices. Most devices are configured with a default network name that has been allocated by the manufacturer and it comes up with cybersecurity vulnerabilities which gives potential attackers more information related your network that serves their motive of breaking into it. SSID hiding is a feature that enables you to hide your network name from the list of people in the surrounding area. It is always better to rename your Wi-Fi SSID name to something that is not easily identifiable. It is one of the easiest and simple way to protect your Wi-Fi network.
Hide your connection’s name is to enhance your home network security. This is an operation you can perform on the router’s online settings platforms.
Many routers have a feature that enables you to create a guest network with a different name and password. It provides better security by protecting your personal Wi-Fi network from being accessed by guest users and prevents malware from the guest’s phone or tablet from entering your primary network and your devices.
The remote administration feature lets you log in to your router’s admin settings. It is not recommended for you to log into your router’s admin settings when you aren’t using it. Deactivate this feature to conveniently avoid it from hackers. You can access your settings when your computer is physically connected to your router with an Ethernet cable.
Encryption is the security method of encoding data from clear text to encrypted text, which the user can only decrypt with the encryption key. Today, the most secure type of encryption to use for your Wi-Fi network is WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2). The greatest improvement of WPA2 compared to WPA is the usage of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption. For older devices that are not compatible to WPA2, make sure to upgrade your home devices for enhanced security and performance.
Your router's firmware is the name for the preinstalled, embedded software that governs a hardware (here hardware refers to your router).It manages the control of routing protocols, administrative features, and the router's security mechanism. Firmware can be updated just like your computer’s operating system or any of the programs and applications. It is vital to download and install the latest firmware for your router. This can repair any firmware vulnerabilities and prevent hackers from taking advantage of them. The firmware upgrades can safeguard your router from any vulnerabilities which may be discovered in earlier versions of your firmware Some routers will be able to check for firmware updates automatically. You can always check it manually by logging in to your router’s admin settings and searching for the firmware section.
Turn off your Wi-Fi in cases when you are not using it or when you are out of your house. There is no benefit in having your Wi-Fi turned on in such situations because it works as an open and available access point for others to hack your network.
Most Wi-Fi routers come with a built-in network firewall feature. It works as a security barrier between the Internet and your home Wi-Fi network. It protects the broadband connections and scans your home network to protect your network security. It is essential that your home router’s firewall is turned on to add another layer of protection to your home security.
Most Wi-Fi routers will have a unique identifier called physical address or Media Access Control (MAC) address. MAC (media access control) address filtering provides an extra layer of protection to your Wi-Fi routers from being hacked. This address allows you to filter and disable unwanted devices which are using your Wi-Fi network. Prior to allowing any device from joining your Wi-Fi network, the router checks the MAC address against a list of approved addresses. If this MAC address matches with the router's list, access is granted as usual; otherwise, it's blocked from accessing the network.
