How do I Secure Home Wireless Network and Smart Devices?

Keeping Secure Home Wireless Network is a responsibility of each person at home. Your smart devices like mobile, laptop, tablet etc. may make you ease communication with friends, family and work staffs. But using them without keeping safe and secure is a big risk for your personal data and files.

Most users don’t know how to secure their smart devices. They think it’s quite enough if the devices will not be lost or steal. It’s just physical security of a device, what about installing apps from non-trusted resource, update the apps, installing any antivirus and anti spyware apps will make your device riskier then stolen or losing.

The below categories are about securing your smart devices at home and work or at public places.

1. How do I Secure Home Wireless Network?

Previously we had explained completely in detail about how to secure a home wireless network? From buying a modern Wireless access point or Wireless router that support security protocols and features for home to setup Wireless network security. I recommend you to read this article which explain the below steps to secure your home wireless network.

• Change the Wireless Router SSID
• Choose a strong password to Secure Home Wireless Network
• Enable encryption
• Hide your Wireless SSID name
• Change the default user name and password of Wireless management interface
• Disable remote access for management to secure home wireless network

2. Update Operating System and Apps

Updating operating system will install the latest critical and security update to patch the OS bugs, solve issues and get better performance. If your smart phone is Android, iOS, Windows Phone or other OS, try to upgrade to the latest version. Also update your mobile Apps too.

Always the latest version lonely is not secure if you don’t have installed any antivirus. Most well-known antivirus will secure your devices against viruses, worms, and spywares. But it will not be keeping it secure from installing pirate apps by you. A pirate app might have some viruses or tracking codes. So don’t install app from unknown source and  keep your devices OS and Apps up to date for security reasons.

3. Pirate and Cracked Apps

A pirate or cracked app might have some viruses or tracking codes to collect your system cookies and personal information illegally. Certainly, most anti virus software collects user information as well, to improve their functionality and performance for upcoming version.

4. Connecting to Public Internet

There are a lot of free wireless signal around when you are outside home. Connecting to internet and checking your social media network or emails push you to use these free Internets. Before connecting your mobile, make sure that it should be quite secure or don’t connect them.

I strongly recommend you that do not connect your mobile to public network when you are not sure about the owners.

5. Multi User Devices

For computer, always assign the appropriate permission for users. If you are admin and know computer security, then remove the others from admins group and they will not bring changes to your system without your permission.

Your mobile is always your own and no one should work with. But sometime you can’t  your friends will get your mobile. For this situation apply your own policy. Keep your eyes on person that working with your mobile. If he/she is not care about security, don’t give your mobile or lock it with a secure password.

Most antivirus has builtin app locker to lock your apps. The best one I recommend you is CM Antivirus. It will take a photo and send to your email when someone want to enter a wrong password. Yes, that is really fantastic.

6. Encrypt Your Devices Storage

Encryption will help you to secure hard disks and memory cards information. It will change the clear data to cipher which non readable data for an unauthorized access. In Windows Bit locker is best and compatible. For mobile devices, do it from settings and encryption section.

7. Backup Your Personal Files

This is the most important step’s you should apply on your mobile and computer. A weekly backup schedules will help you to back up your personal files and photos. In case of losing or crash a device, you must have a copy of your files and documents.

In Windows use File history to back up your personal files. For mobile devices connect to an online could such as Google Drive, One Drive, or iCloud for backup solution.

Conclusion

While you are trying update your system apps and operating system, try to keep update you knowledge as well. Subscribe to security news websites and be aware of most recent information security.

Photo credit: OneDrive