Wi-Fi Worries: Why Is It So Important to Protect WiFi Networks?
Using a Wi-Fi network in your business offers you the convenience of accessing the internet from anywhere in the office. It is also a cost-effective way of ensuring that everyone in the workplace can access fast internet to minimize downtime cases.
Nonetheless, if your wireless network is not secure, you are putting your business at a high risk of hackers’ attacks. The hackers can easily access shared files, hijack your connection, and intercept any sent and received files.
If you are yet to invest in securing your Wi-Fi networks, here are common wireless network threats and reasons for securing your wireless networks.
Keep Free Riders Away
If you are the kind of person who loves working from anywhere, be it in a food restaurant, on the bus, or as you relax at the park, you are giving free riders a chance to reach your device.
Sometimes the urge to send a quick, last-minute email to a client or investor is irresistible. The idea may look harmless, but you will be attracting free riders to steal bandwidth.
If hackers or pirates spot your unsecured network, they can steal the bandwidth and significantly degrade your performance. This, in return, results in downtime or blocks you from using the network altogether.
Avoid Taking Responsibility for Other People’s Actions
Hackers are always on the lookout for unsecured business networks to perform their malicious operations. Whether they want to open illegal credit lines or attack government systems, they look for unprotected networks to take liability for their illegal actions.
The hackers have a way of masking their devices such that during crime investigations, the traces will lead to your company’s IP address.
While you will not be charged for the crimes without solid proof, no one wants to be associated with incriminating activities. The investigation process will affect your business’s productivity, and you might even lose customers in between.
Securing your network is the best way to protect your enterprise from such mishaps.
Protect Lost or Stolen Devices
This one is among the most overlooked yet serious wireless network threats. What happens when you lose a device, which could be a laptop or Smartphone that you used to get in with your business network?
If your network is not protected, whoever traces the stolen device can access the network password. In return, they may use it for malicious deeds. The best way to avoid such instances is by encrypting the network such that only authorized persons can access it.
How to Secure Wireless Network
Check out tips for protecting your wireless networks on trustworthy sites such as https://setapp.com/how-to/secure-wifi-network-from-any-threats. Here are more effective ways to do so.
1. Secure the Wi-Fi Network Extender
If you are using Wi-Fi network repeaters, you could be wondering if it is possible to have a different password from the main Wi-Fi network. You can set a different password to protect repeated networks, especially in business.
In this case, you should consider the most secure way to protect hackers from accessing the extender. It would help if you first understood how the extenders work and then work on configuring the repeater’s settings.
You could be using the strongest Wi-Fi network encryption, but you are at risk of hackers’ attacks if the extender is not protected.
2. Adjust the Router’s Settings
The Wi-Fi routers come with default settings, which are accessible to everyone using similar routers. While the settings make the router set up easy, they make your network vulnerable and accessible by unauthorized persons.
The easiest way to secure a wireless network is to personalize those settings to your business standards. Change the router’s IP address setting, the password, and the network name.
When changing these settings, ensure that the passwords used are strong and hard to guess. Do not use the obvious such as company name, location, founder’s name, or birthday.
3. Change the Network Names
Also known as SSID, the Wi-Fi network names are what people from outside use to identify your network. While you want them to find your network with ease, you do not want to broadcast to everyone the model and make of your router.
It is highly recommended that you change the router’s default name to something unique. With this, hackers can’t trace the documents that can help them access your business network.
4. Use Wi-Fi Protected Access
Your Wi-Fi router comes with different password options to ensure that you are using the default WPA. With time, the encryption protocol becomes outdated, leaving your network highly vulnerable.
You should check the settings regularly to confirm if you are using a reliable encryption protocol. If it is old, consider upgrading to WPA2 or getting a new router.
5. Switch Off WPS
WPS or Wi-Fi Protected Setup is meant to speed up the process of pairing devices with encrypted networks. Enabling this setting will be giving anyone access to your router. Hackers can gain a foothold in the network and manipulate it in whichever way they please.
While encrypting your wireless network maximizes its security, you should turn off the WPS feature unless you need it on specific occasions.
6. VPN Protection
Virtual Private Network is by far the most effective way to improve your network’s privacy. However, the idea has proven to offer security benefits by protecting the router from intruders.
If you use your business wireless network in public places frequently, such as in cafes and parks, using VPN will protect your computer from Man-in-the-middle attacks. This is where hackers penetrate your device to reach other devices using the same network as you.
The malicious actors may also sneak malware into your computer. When you bring the device to the business premise and connect them to the enterprise network, the router becomes their next target.
VPN works by encrypting all the traffic to and from your device while protecting the Wi-Fi router. This means that intermediaries or intruders will not be able to penetrate your computer or any other person using the same network as you.
Secured Wi-Fi Networks Facilitate Business Protection
Wi-Fi networks are a life changer. They make running a business bearable but have some downside too. The main drawback is security and the numerous threats associated with wireless networks.
The guide above will help you understand the benefits of securing Wi-Fi networks and how to do it. Keep checking our blogs for more insightful tips to help you protect your business and improve productivity.