Top 7 Tips to Secure Your Wireless Network
Teleworking and the convenience of enjoying a connection anywhere at home have made wireless networks among the most widely used today; not only in the domestic environment. The use of them in small businesses and large companies is common to facilitate connectivity with devices. However, this also makes them one of the most desired ecosystems for hackers.
Poorly configured and managed, WiFi networks can be the gateway to numerous dangers: from slow connection speeds to the hijacking of confidential or banking data. Any stranger occupying the bandwidth of our wireless communications inevitably puts us at risk.
Here are the best recommendations you should follow to avoid security breaches in your wireless communications:
- Delete the default password: Never leave the same manufacturer’s default password. Once you buy your wireless router, create a new password and don’t forget to use complex patterns combining symbols, letters, numbers or special characters.
- Prevent the wireless device from giving away your presence: The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the name of your network that appears once you connect. By declaring the network with your name or any information referring to you, you are making yourself more visible and therefore vulnerable. We recommend that you change the SSID name in your router settings and also disable SSID broadcasting to prevent your wireless device from announcing your presence every time you connect.
- Encrypt your connection and choose the protocol well: You can do this in the connection settings and it is important that you choose the encryption well. Try to make it preferably WPA2 first choice or WPA, but never WEP. WPA2 is the most secure protocol currently available and WPA can be susceptible to vulnerabilities if weak passwords are used. WEP, on the other hand, is the most obsolete protocol, so your security could easily be penetrated.
- Use firewalls: This type of software has several built-in functions that are very useful in terms of security. For example: with a firewall you can prevent unauthorized access to the network. A firewall is also capable of stopping suspicious traffic, allowing only legitimate traffic. Nowadays almost every router comes with its own network firewall to protect broadband connections, but you should make sure that it is always enabled.
- Keep anti-malware products installed: In each of the devices where you connect you should always have software for automatic protection against malware. Always try to have it updated as well as antivirus programs, security patches and firewalls.
- Enable MAC address filtering: MAC address filtering, also known as Media Access Control, addressing is an important recommendation for the security of wireless networks. With this function enabled we can tell the router the MAC address of the wireless devices in our network. In this way you avoid intruders.
- A guest network: If you ever have visitors at home and they need to connect to your network, you can avoid being asked for the password to enter your family WiFi. You have the option of creating a guest network and there are already many routers that have this option.
Don’t forget: Even if you have a strong password, you should follow these tips to strengthen the security of your WiFi network. It is also important that you know how to handle the concepts related to SSID management and MAC address restrictions. But if you need advice, at Globenet International we can offer you the best security services, whether for your home network or if you need highly scalable wireless security for your corporate network. We have the best professionals and equipment to meet your demands.
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