Secureing your wifi network

Join today. Cancel anytime. Start Free Trial. The following tips can help secure your home Wi-Fi network against unauthorized access.

Make your wireless network password unique and strong Most wireless routers come pre-set with a default password. Enabling network encryption Almost all wireless routers come with an encryption feature. Turn off network name broadcasting When using a wireless router at home, it is highly recommended that you disable network name broadcasting to the general public. Editorial note: Our articles provide educational information for you.

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While an experienced hacker with the right tools can still sniff the traffic from your router and eventually determine the SSID, it adds another step to the process, and it might cause a hacker to move on to a more appealing target. If you want to offer your guests access to your internet access point while keeping them away from the resources on your home Wi-Fi network, you can set up a guest network. Let them go home and use their own paper and printer ink, right? You can still require a password to use the guest connection, and I recommend making it a different password than the one used for your internal Wi-Fi network — otherwise, savvy users might try the password on your private network.

UPnP allows devices in your home devices like smart appliances, smart speakers and other connected devices to discover the network and communicate with their manufacturer to download firmware updates and other information.

A worm or malware program can use UPnP to compromise the wireless security of your wireless local area network. Hackers have used the flaws in UPnP to infect smart household devices and enlist them into botnets, which are then used to commit a DDoS attack by sending an overload of requests against a server or network.

Only allow access from inside your network. WPS uses one of two methods to get a new device to recognize and connect to a network. If your router has a button on the back of it or a virtual button you can click in the browser, as seen below , pushing it will send a signal to the device, adding it to the network and passing along login credentials, so no need for a password.

Or, you can also use an eight-character numeric code entered into the network settings on the device. The code method is easy to crack. However, you can also manually update the firmware, just to make sure you actually have the latest version of the firmware. Most routers will offer a method of downloading and automatically updating the firmware, as seen above.

The process usually takes only a few minutes, depending on your router and the speed of your internet connection. If your router has a firewall, enable it. This helps to block unrequested traffic from outside of your network. Many router consoles will display a list or diagram showing all of the devices connected to your router. In , it was discovered that the firmware used in certain routers ran a process that listened at port Any open port can allow hackers entry to your network, and they can then cause havoc on the router or your network.

Affected routers include hardware from a supplier called SerComm. Check here to find out if your router is on the list of known affected routers.

You can also check to see if port is open by visiting this website. If it is open, contact your router manufacturer for assistance. While you can manually close this, or other open ports, on your router, they can be reopened without your knowledge.

This pertains to the devices that connect to your Wi-Fi network. Never install software or copy files from untrusted or unknown sources. Pirated copies of software and other files will sometimes include viruses or malware. Log out as administrator.

If a hacker got into your administrator account, they could easily get into your network and devices. Protect your devices. Just as hackers can get to your data through unsecured networks, they can also get to your network through unsecured devices. To find tips on locking down your devices, read about keeping your devices secure. Federal Trade Commission Consumer Information. Search form Search. Share this page Facebook Twitter Linked-In.

Your home networks might have a range of wireless devices on them — from computers and phones to IP cameras , voice assistants , smart TVs, and connected appliances. Taking some basic steps to secure your home Wi-Fi network will help protect your devices from getting hacked — and your information from getting stolen.

A good idea is to set up a secondary WiFi network, usually called a Guest network. Just for guests. They can have the WiFi password for this network, connect in, and not have central access to the main WiFi network. Why do it this way?

But if they have your WiFi SSID and password, if their laptop or tablet is ever compromised, that means a hacker can have it as well and get into your network. Setting up a guest network and allowing access only when needed cuts down on the odds of someone breaking into the network. A firewall is a barrier where only traffic that allows comes in or out.

Most of the time, the most effective rule for any firewall goes like this. There are other important settings to tweak on the firewall. But sometimes a hacker will send a fragmented packet.