The digital age is pretty mesmerizing when you come to think of it. The ease and breadth of what you can possibly do is relentless and overwhelming. At the heart of this lies connection; it is connectivity that imparts life into this burgeoning thing called internet. Yes, I am talking about the Wi-Fi, a word synonymous with our daily life. The Wi-Fi oddly is a much needed and vulnerable part of any connection. It is susceptible to hacking very often and more alarming is the notion of complete ignorance. You probably do not even know, if at all, your Wi-Fi network is hacked in the first place.
In the age of internet and social media privacy and data protection are fast becoming most important issues. But something might be wrong at your very own home, right inside your Wi-Fi router. After the digital signals make their way inside our home there still remains enough nodes to collude with your home connection. It might sound strangely dangerous, but you have the power to control and guard what goes on inside your home connection. Hacking a Wi-Fi connection is a simple enough job and does not require an ace hacker to get access into your connection and tamper your privacy. In fact, you can just Google ‘how to hack Wi-Fi network’ and get a tutorial just like this to do the job. It is that incredibly simple.
But do not panic. There are just few easy steps to stay safe and secure.
#1 Change the default SSID
This is the first thing anybody should be doing the moment they setup a new Wi-Fi connection at home. SSID stand for Service Set Identifier and basically it is the name of the Wi-Fi network. The moment you begin setting up your Wi-Fi router, you are asked to set up a username and password for your network. Most of us when see the default name that is already present in the blank, gladly bypass that. We leave the admin credentials just as it is there, for example ‘Netgear 4630’. The key is to not let your hackers know what brand of hardware router you are using. I will come to explain that later why.
So, if you have not changed your default Wi-Fi username, do that immediately. And again, this is not the only step that is going to protect you forever, unless you come with a super complicated SSID that even you have trouble remembering.
#2 Use a strong password
A hacker’s first step to tip-toe inside your network is to figure out the brand of router you are using. Once they know the brand they have key tools to break into the safe, that is your router and their job is done. The moment hackers break the WPA2 they will have enough ease to process enough possible passwords for your network. After all that is what they do. WPA3 is the last line of control for your network and it can be guarded with a strong password. So, now you know why you have to change your default SSID and password to keep hackers at bay.
If you are new to this, and already have a network up and running you can still save the boat by resetting your router. Find out the user manual that came with your router and if you have diligently thrown it away then Google it with your router model name. Reset your router, reconnect it to your modem and then change admin and password to start off on a safer road.
Now coming to creating a strong password, you probably have read those news about the most commonly crated passwords globally and how easy it is for hackers to break them and bite into your network. Create a password with a substantial length of characters, like 10 to 15 and include upper and lower-case letters, and special characters and symbols. The best bet is to set aside any logic in setting up your password. Come with a random jumble of characters that do not mean anything to you and keep it down safe.
#3 Buy a good router
You might have the best connections but if your router is mediocre then your foundation is precarious. A good router should do the job of getting you good connection everywhere at home and gets updated automatically and regularly. If your router is not doing these two things perfectly then try to replace it as soon as you can. Automatic updates in a timely manner of Wi-Fi router is an extremely crucial thing to not let it stand vulnerable in the face of hacker’s onslaught. There are lot of praises around Google Wi-Fi and these days they are also available in India, but there plenty of other options too. Brands like Netgear, Asus and Linksys have been in the Wi-Fi business relatively longer than Google and they make good routers.
But do remember that every Wi-Fi network is hackable and is not 100 percent safe, no matter who is manufacturing the router. So, your best bet is to make your Wi-Fi network as secure as you can.
