Home Security - Cybersecurity Awareness Month

 

Securing Your Home

What is Home Network Security? 

Home network security is the defense of a home network, which links devices like routers, PCs, smartphones, and Wi-Fi-enabled baby monitors and webcams to one another and to the Internet.

 

There are two widespread misconceptions among residential users regarding the security of their networks.

• Their household network is not big enough to be vulnerable to a cyberattack.
• Out of the box, their products are "secure enough."

 

The majority of attacks are not of a personal nature and can happen on any kind of network—large or small, residential or commercial. A network is naturally more open to outside threats if it is connected to the internet.

 

What are the risks? 

DNS hijacking is one of the biggest threats to any wireless network. This occurs when malware infiltrates your unsecured router and craftily redirects you away from a well-known site, such the website of your bank, and toward a phony site that closely resembles the genuine thing. Cybercriminals steal your login information when you log in to the fake website and use it to access the legitimate website.  

 

How to improve the security of Home Network? 

You can drastically lower the attack surface of your home network and make it more complex for a malicious cyber actor to launch a successful attack by using some of the basic but effective mitigation strategies listed below in  no particular order:

• Update your router, home computer and handheld device software regularly.
• Read current security events to learn how to protect your home from the latest vulnerabilities.
• Remove unnecessary services and software from home computers.
• Change default log-in passwords and usernames.
• Use strong and unique passwords with important services such as spending, and email.
• Install network firewall on network devices.
• Regularly back up your data to network attached storage (NAS) or external hard drive.
• Turn off “remote management”, WPS and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) features.
• After your router has been set up, change default administrator password and logout.