How to Protect Your Wi-Fi from Hackers?
There is no denying that our ‘Home WiFi’ is our comfort in some way or the other. All of us love to make a cozy place in the corner of our room but a little nearer to your WiFi so that we don’t get interrupted.
Scrolling through various social media networks or watching a movie or even making a TikTok video, we are comfortable doing so when we are using our own WiFi.
However, did you know your Home WiFi is not always secure or safe enough? Yes! It is your WiFi but then none has guaranteed you security.
Isn’t it? There are several factors that play an important role while deciding on the security of WiFi. Hackers don’t even need to make a lot of efforts to hack your Home Wi-Fi and extract personal data from your phone.
You might have brought the router from a trusted company, and even if the company has guaranteed you security; that does not always mean your WiFi is safe from hackers.
Moreover, the online transactions you make and other bank details you use to buy stuff online via your Home Wi-Fi can also lead to thefts by these hackers.
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There have been several cases that involve hacking Home WiFi and then these hackings lead to robberies or thefts in general. These hackers can get access to your personal details easily only by hacking your Wi-Fi.
Here are 5 ways your Home WiFi can be hacked:
1. Several routers, even the ones that guarantee you lifetime security is set by default WEP protection. In spite of these multiple security options provided to you, the method of security send-outs specific patterns across your network that make it easier for anyone to recognize the password of your WiFi and then get easy access to your personal data easily.
2. You can set your router in such a way that it is able to recognize a certain type of device but even then anyone can detect and easily mirror the network address with many applications like Netcut, WPA WPS Tester, or WiFi Master available online and anyone can access your router password right away.
3. Your WiFi can be easily hacked if your password is way too easy to be recognized. Hackers can easily guess your password within a few minutes by running a few words across the computer until the right password is guessed. Never re-use passwords or use the same password that is given on the router.
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4. Hackers can enter your home in disguise as anyone like your internet operator when they install an internet connection or come to fix any network connectivity issue and with one glance on your WiFi, that’s it. Always make sure to change the password as soon as they left.
5. When you sell your old phone or your old router and did not remember wiping away all the systematic data then you are at loss. Always wipe away every type of data from your phone, and router before selling it.
How to Protect Wi-Fi from Hackers?
Here are a few simple and easy steps to secure and protect your home Wi-Fi network from hackers to make sure that your home and office are safe places to get online.
Follow the step-by-step tips that you can do in a couple of minutes to increase your security and privacy on things like your iPhone, and Android devices, and for your Wi-Fi router and home network.
1. Change SSID (Wi-Fi Name):
Now, so many just set their home network and forget about it. They use the password and the SSID (Wi-Fi name) that they were given by their internet service provider.
To change SSID you need to log in to the router admin or home page. If you don’t how to do that read the article How to Set Up a Wireless Router.
If you’re using any other router, it’s generally on the backside where you can find that 6 or 7-digit code along with a password that’s printed on it.
If you’re using an Apple AirPort, you can log in to the AirPort application from your Mac. And what you’re looking for, or the first thing that we want to change is the SSID. This is the ID that comes up when you’re searching for Wi-Fi.
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What we may not know is that these IDs can be tied back to the manufacturer of that particular wireless router and that device may have known vulnerabilities so that if a hacker, sees that particular ID, he can easily hack into it.
So, what you have to do is just change the name and keep it something that changes the name of your SSID and then allows you to know exactly what it is. It’s not going to make your router or password secure but it is just a simple change that you can make.
2. Password Security:
The second thing that you must do is set up a new, more secure password. Obviously, your internet service provider gave you a random easy password and set up your Wi-Fi with password protection and leave.
That is not recommended if you really want to protect your Wi-Fi from hackers keep a difficult one maybe a little bit harder. You must create a unique, strong password that’s something you can remember as well and protect your Wi-Fi from hackers.
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4. Create Guest ID:
If you have a lot of guests or friends over, one of the things that happen is you tend to give out your home Wi-Fi password, and that Wi-Fi password gets stored in their devices.
When you look into your Wi-Fi settings you’d probably find a number of networks that are remembered and saved in your device. Now what that means is they also have access to your home network, depending on how it’s set up.
That could even include your Alexa or your Google Assistant, all of these things. So, one of the things that you should do is set up a separate Wi-Fi network for guests and other people.
So, when they ask for that password, you can give them this can be done by having a separate router entirely, which takes a little bit of time to set up.
Or if you are using an Apple AirPort or some other advanced routers, they actually have an option for what they call a guest ID. This is the best option to protect your home Wi-Fi password from others.
And this just sets up a separate Wi-Fi network that is completely separated so that they don’t have access to your home network when they access that particular guest network.
4. Turn off your Wi-Fi:
This is something nobody thinks of it, but it’s really important. Suppose if you’re going to the office or leaving your house then it’s better you turn off your router. There’s no reason to have your Wi-Fi continuing to go on when there is no one in the house.
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Just like Alexa, and Google Assistant all the other devices, are just other access points to your network that can be available for anybody to just take their time trying to hack while you’re away from your house.
5. Disable Remote Access:
Finally, when you’re in the settings for your router, another thing you want to look at is disabling remote access. There are very few times when you’re going to want to have the ability to remotely access your router.
What that means is if you’re not physically present near the Wi-Fi router, it’s giving you the ability to basically dial in from another location and there’s no reason that you’re going to want to use that. For most people, it’s an advanced feature. So, it’s best that you disable that feature if you can.
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But there are so many more steps that you can take these are some of the easiest ones that you can do right now. There are several ways you can protect your Wi-Fi password from hackers and they are listed below:
• Avoid re-using passwords for your WiFi.
• Consider disabling WPS functionality on routers
• Make sure you don’t use any kind of hidden networks
• Considering disabling auto-connect when joining networks
Protect your personal data by protecting your WiFi!