With the current digital transformation, today’s households feature a wide range of internet-connected devices and gadgets, making it feel like the Internet is an essential necessity for existence today. There is an increased reliance on networks to connect different devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, fitness trackers, smart televisions, doorbells, light bulbs, home security systems, and thermostats. However, this trend lays the first stone to numerous security risks. In the same way we would never leave the front door to a house open, we should keep the home network secure from intruders.
You need to control who connects to your network and prevent people outside your home network from picking up a signal from your router.
Read along to discover essential steps and best practices to improve your home network security posture.
We have compiled a list of 12 simple changes along with best practices you can follow to secure your home network from intruders:
The primary step towards securing your home network is to change default passwords to prevent unauthorized users within the home network range from connecting, sniffing the traffic, or changing the network settings.
SSIDs revealing details such as your name or house number give an intruder a better chance of breaking into your network. It would be prudent to modify the SSID to something different from personal information. Changing the router’s credentials is a straightforward process done by accessing the device console from any devices connected to the network.
Apart from changing the default credentials, it would be best to change the SSID and passwords frequently. There is no hard and fast rule about how often you should do this, but it is a good practice to change the details regularly.
As mentioned above, vendors distribute wireless routers with a pre-set default password that you need to change as the first step towards a safer home network.
In fact, hackers can easily guess the default password if they know your router’s manufacturer. This risk necessitates creating a new complex password with a mix of character types, such as at least one digit, an uppercase and lowercase letter, and a symbol, as recommended by the NIST Special Publication 800-63B – Digital Identity Guidelines.
It also helps to limit access to the Wi-Fi password. Although it seems impartial to share your network access credentials with relatives, children, and friends, never feel obliged to share the password with everyone within the home network range. For instance, a visiting salesman, plumber, a gardener, or an electrician is a stranger, and you might never know beforehand what their intentions are, so you cannot trust them.
If your modern Wi-Fi router includes an option for setting up a guest network with a unique SSID and password, you can use this option to allow guests to connect their devices without sharing the primary network credentials.
It is highly recommended that you disable network name broadcasting to the public when using a wireless network router at home. Network name broadcasting is primarily helpful for businesses, institutions, hotels, libraries, and other public networks that offer wireless internet access to customers. Blocking your router from sending out its identifier creates a hidden network that only allows devices with connection data to connect and hides the SSID from passers-by.
Do you know who is connecting to your wireless network?
You can take complete control and secure your home network from intruders using the Sonar subscription service that identifies and alerts you to threats on your wireless network.
Some of the capabilities you get with Sonar solution from Pulsar Security include:
Sonar solution detects devices within range of the wireless network and tracks the type of device as well as the MAC address to provide a device fingerprint for correlating a device to an IP address
Pulsar Security offers technical phone and email support, consultative services, and personalized recommendations. The technical team holds advanced cybersecurity certifications. The experts leverage experience and proprietary tools to protect your network against malicious attacks.
Is Sonar a good fit for your home network? Learn more here
Book a free risk assessment and talk to one of our technical engineers today