Smart Home or Business Wi-Fi Security

If you have a smart home or small business, it is just about guaranteed that you have Wi-Fi for clients and internet of all things devices to use. That needs to be setup correctly or your business and personal information can be a risk. Now more than ever it is really important that you have multiple layers of security between simple devices like your garage door opener, a Wi-Fi network that you allow clients/visitors to use, and your personal information or business.

The reality is that security needs to be layered. The type of attack that can get through a device firewall is has trouble succeeding against a network firewall. Firewall security that uses behavior modeling (i.e. AI assisted) can detect new attacks before they have the opportunity to damage you even if they are “new”. As we approach our first “zero day” event (a virus that has mass distribution on day one deployment), you cannot wait for an updated virus definition to protect your business.

Best Practices

• Install a router that allows you to have separate main network, guest network, and internet of all things (IoT) device network. This means that there will be firewalls between the portion of your Wi-Fi network used by your smart TV vs. what is used by the laptop running your business. If you have kids, the network they “share” with visiting friends should NOT be the same network that you are running your home business. If you own a physical business location, do NOT allow clients/visitors to use the same network Wi-Fi connect that you have your business information using. Credit card transactions should not be on the same network that you allow strangers of the street to use.
• Make sure you have a router and modem (called a gateway if it is all in one physical device) that can manage traffic. In a 4-person household, it would not be a stretch to have 3 laptops, 2 smart watches, 4 tablets, 2 smart TVs, a Ring Doorbell, and probably at least one gaming system just at a starting point. You need something that can automatically balance the traffic between the laptop attempting to login to a Zoom, the kid streaming an online game with his friend, your spouse checking on social media, and your doorbell registering movement at your front door without causing any one of these activities to be “paused” or “buffer”.
• Have the network login information appropriately accessible. This means for example the default network that guests should be used probably is written on a piece of paper on the refrigerator or a small, laminated sign in the store/office location. Your business network login information needs to be notated somewhere you can find it, so when you need to update a business device it doesn’t become a “seek and destroy” mission.
• Change your Wi-Fi login information at least once a year.
• Install Firewall/Antivirus software on individual devices like laptops, desktops, tablets, and smart phones. Depending on your network hardware you may have availability to additional firewall protect that is on those networking hardware. This leaves your data behind multiple layers of protection that are all configured differently with different strengths and weaknesses. Security Sources Examples: From your IP provider, Your Network Modem, Your Network Router, Your Individual Device Firewall, and your Individual Device Antivirus.
• Stop clicking on links from unknown sources OR from a known source but not typical content. If you are not expecting to receive a “joke” from a client, you may want to reach out to the client and make sure they really sent it before you click the link for the meme!

Router Examples that have the ability to provide multiple Wi-Fi networks that have firewalls between each.

• Netgear Orbi 770 – https://a.co/d/0iXrNQlo
• TP-Link Deco 7 – https://a.co/d/04hiKuEe
• Netgear Nighthawk – https://a.co/d/0cE3kH80
• ASUS Gaming Router – https://a.co/d/0eWLcNXV
• EERO 7 – https://a.co/d/0eWLcNXV

Give me a call/text/email if you want some help getting your current Wi-Fi configuration secure and with all the no-coverage areas removed!!!