In the era of cyber-crimes and security breaches, it shouldn’t surprise you if someone has been riding your Wi-Fi for months. Considering this, if you haven’t setup any security over your Wi-Fi network yet, consider it a foremost priority.
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If your wireless network is not encrypted, it may attract all freeloaders who want to leech off your internet. Here we’ve enlisted some tips for you to secure your wireless network:
Also Read: How to find Saved Wi-Fi Password on Mac
How to Secure Your Wireless Network
1. Enable WPA2 Encryption on Your Wireless Router:
If you’ve been using an older wi-fi network which never gone through any maintenance, chances are you’re using an outdated Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption. WEP is prone to be hacked and isn’t considered secure anymore.
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If your router doesn’t contain WPA2 security feature, you can upgrade its firmware. In case the router is too old to upgrade its firmware, you probably want to invest in buying a new Wi-Fi router. With WPS enabled, if a person can see the traffic within the range of the network, it will be all scrambled and encrypted.
Also Read: WiMAX – Future of Mobile Technologies
2. Strong and Unique Password Selection:
No matter how consolidated is the security, if the passphrase is a no brainer, you’re doing it wrong. A password is meant to be known just by you and must not be elementary for others to guess. Your password must a combination of alphanumerical and special characters. You must avoid passwords made up with letter continuation. For e.g. 12345678910, password, 00000, pa55word, 1111, etc. are not considered relatively safe.
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3. Enable Wireless Firewall:
Every router comes with inbuilt firewall in it. You must login to your router and enable it (Details can be found on manufacturer’s support website). Disabled firewall and public mode of Wi-Fi may open Pandora’s box for you. To double the security, experts suggest to enable the firewall on your computer and turn on the Stealth Mode to reduce the visibility of your network.
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Also Read: LiFi – Light is the New Way of Communication
4. Say No to Admin via Wireless:
By turning off the ‘Admin via Wireless’ feature, you cripple the hackers, as they’ll be no longer authorized to make any admin level changes if they somehow connect to your Wi-Fi network. With this feature, you can access the administrator access only if you connect using an Ethernet cable to the network. This helps prevent tampering with security and disabling the encryption by unauthorized people.
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5. Carefully Chose your SSID:
When selecting a name for your Wi-Fi, ignore putting fancy and purposeless names. An SSID must be simple and non-provoking. Names such as ‘Can’t Hack’, ‘Father of Hackers’ etc., provoke real hackers and make your Wi-Fi a soft target.
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Also Read: Will VPNs Protect You from ISPs’ Surveillance?
Surprisingly, hackers have created a list that contains top 1000 common SSID’s (Wi-Fi network names). If your network name is available on that list, hackers have likely cracked your password using a Rainbow Table (aka Password Hash Table), that can be used to breach a network’s password. Unfortunately, various implantations of WPA2 may be vulnerable to this type of attacks. A prolong long password for your Wi-Fi may help in such cases.
Altogether, a Wi-Fi network must be treated as your own identity. You must consider enabling required security with a cloak and dagger. The open Wi-Fi may cause an irrevocable damage. Therefore, always change your password if you had to host your guests with some data. If required, schedule a monthly maintenance visit from your network provider.