Windows 10: How to secure your home network?

Data breaches are becoming quite common. Only recently, 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians were affected as Capital One came under attack and there have been worse data breaches than this. You might remember the time when the headlines only talked about Yahoo data breach. In 2013, hackers stole information of 3 billion people from the tech giant.


It is not just the behemoths that are targeted, the hackers also eye small and medium-sized businesses. A report by the Cyber Security Alliance concluded that 60 percent of these small businesses shut down within six months of the hack.


Even though the headlines are often tainted with such news, we rarely give a second thought to our home security network, which is far more vulnerable and can be easily hacked. In fact, in 2018, Russian attackers started targeting home routers. It is impossible to be completely prepared for all sorts of attacks. However, not all hackers are aware of every hacking trick and often hacking occurs because of simple security failings.

Signs that you are hacked
So you sifted through all the internet plans and selected the best one, but then your internet started acting up, and videos started taking a lot of time to load. It is probably because someone has started stealing your Wi-Fi because there is only a certain bandwidth available and when it is divided among a lot of devices, the internet slows down.


Wi-Fi stealing is perhaps a very innocent form of hacking but hackers often don’t have a simple agenda. With vulnerable networks, they get the freedom to do anything including data theft, identity theft and launching malware campaigns.


In worst-case scenarios, your system will lock down and you will get ransomware messages. Other than that, you might also get unwanted antivirus messages, unwanted toolbars, or your searches might get redirected.

What to do in case of an attack?
Don’t panic if you start seeing these signs. If you suspect your network is under attack, take action immediately. Disconnect your computer instantly. Once you do that, get rid of any software that the hacker may have installed. If you have multiple computers using the home network, then you will have to disinfect all of them.


In case your router has also been compromised, reset it back to the default settings. This will remove any firewalls or software the hacker may have installed in the system. Before you do that, note down the default user admin name and the password.


It would be great if you can also change your IP address as soon as possible because if the hacker was connected to you through the IP address, it would make it difficult to re-establish the connection.

How to set up a secure network?
It is better to be safe than sorry hence you should be well prepared for any sort of attack beforehand. While you cannot completely hack-proof your network, there are some measures you can take to ensure its safety.


The first thing you need to do as soon as you get a router is to change its SSID, password, and encryption. SSID is basically the identity of your Wi-Fi. If you are using the default SSID such as DLINK or Linksys, it makes it easier for hackers to identify the type of router you are using and subsequently hack it. Change your password as well and use around 16 to 20 characters.


Also, it is crucial that you change the encryption from WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) to WPA 2 (Wi-Fi protected access) along with AES. WPA 2 with AES is the highest security standard available. Disable WPS and UPnP features, as well as they, allow devices to easily connect to your router.


Your router comes with a default setting of remote access through which you can easily use the console from a different location. But if you can, then someone else can as well. So, turn that off too.


Another thing you can do is to hide your network so that it doesn’t broadcast its SSID to passers. The devices that already have data stored in them will automatically connect and the ones that don’t will only see ‘hidden network’ display in the list of Wi-Fi connections.


You should also consider setting up a VPN as it adds more layers over WPS AES security and also hides your IP address. A VPN will automatically protect all of your devices.


Moreover, you can setup MAC filtering. MAC is basically the network card identifier and is unique, which means no two devices can have the same MAC address. Once you turn on the MAC filter, only devices that are allowed will be able to connect to the network.

Conclusion
These measures do make it difficult for hackers to gain entry into your network. However, it doesn’t make it foolproof. For that, you need to put in some extra effort and keep the router firmware up to date at all times as well as change your passwords frequently.

:)

 

Basic Network guide

I'll be adding a small page on doing this in windows vista soon, since XP is the same with a step or two less, i assume people will figure it out.

 

network security

Netgear Wireless Router Setup and Security
The use of wireless routers and access points is allowed on the Lycoming College Resnet. If you do plan on setting up a wireless router it is your responsibility to properly configure and secure your wireless router for both your own personal privacy and overall network stability. On this page you will find instructions on how to properly setup your wireless router.


Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Wireless Router
Begin setup of your Netgear Wireless Router by first reading the instructions in the included manual, and following their guidelines for plugging in and initializing the access point. The first few steps in this guide should coincide with the information found in the manual, however we will follow up with important information on how to secure your wireless access point.
After powering up the router, use an ethernet cable to connect your computer to one of the ports on it marked 1 through 4. Next open a web browser window on the connected computer and type http://192.168.1.1 into the address bar and press enter. This will take you to the Netgear Smart Wizard welcome page, click OK to begin the configuration. The router will attempt to detect the type of connection you have and the next message you receive should be Dynamic IP (DHCP) Detected, click Next once you see this.
Next you will enable the wireless capability of your router. In the dropdown box for the region where you are located select United States from the list. On this screen you should also change the Wireless Network Name (SSID) from its default value to something unique so that your Base Station will not be confused with another. Click Next.
You should now see a message confirming that your connection is working and wireless is enabled. However, your are not secured yet. Read the notes and click Done. Then direct your browser to Router login to continue the configuration. A window will pop up prompting you for your login and password, enter admin for the username and password for the password, then click OK.





Accessing the router settings through a web browser.



Once you have logged in you will see the main configuration page (shown above). Now click on the Wireless Settings at the left of the page. In order to password protect your wireless network select the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) option under the Security Options and then under the Security Encryption (WEP) section that appears, select 128 bit next to Encryption Strength. Choose a password between 6 and 8 characters and type it into the Passphrase box under the Security Encryption (WEP) Key heading. Then click Generate. Finally click Apply. You may also select WPA encryption, however not all network cards support this, so check your documentation first.
Next look for the Advanced section heading on the left side of the page and click on this Wireless Settings section. Disable the SSID broadcast option by unchecking the second box in this section and then click on the Setup Access List button.
On this page (seen below) check the box to Turn Access Control On and click on the Apply button to save this setting.
Now click on the Add button, this will display a Wireless Card Entry heading. This is where you will choose a name and enter a MAC Address, also known as Physical Address, for each computer that you will be using to connect to your wireless network. If you don't know how to get this information follow the steps here. Once you have finished, click the Apply button.






Creating an Access Control List will prevent unauthorized computers from using your connection.


Finally click on the Set Password link on the left of the page under the Maintenance heading. Change the default password for accessing your wireless router setup pages by first typing the old one, password, into the appropriate field and then entering a new one into the New Password field and confirming it. This should be a different password than the one you setup for WEP encryption, but should also be at least 6 to 8 characters in length. Click the Apply button.


Your Netgear Wireless Router is now secure.

 

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