Wi-Fi Security – Password Protect Your Network!

Wi-Fi Security - Password Protect Your Network!

Almost every week, we hear that yet another company has been hacked.

Somebody has broken into their data networks and stolen valuable private information like the personal identification, credit card and banking information of their customers.

It’s not just large organizations that get attacked. If you have WI-FI in your home, you also have a data network and you could be vulnerable, too.

Why would anyone bother targeting my small WI-FI network?

If you bank and shop online, a lot of your own confidential data travels over your network. You may also keep private information on the computers, phones or tablets that you use to connect to your WI-FI. If your WI-FI isn’t secure, all that information could be targeted.

Finally, other people may try to use your WI-FI simply to avoid paying for their own. You may think this isn’t an issue if your internet plan has unlimited data, but having too many devices connected to your WI-FI network can slow it down dramatically.

Wi-Fi Password Guidelines:

Go for a longer Wi-Fi password. A rule of thumb for the length of Wi-Fi passwords is to make it at least eight characters long — the longer it is, the harder it will be to hack.

The more random the better. Even a long password can be quite useless if it is a regular word from a dictionary. Specialized hacking software will quickly crack such a password. Use random letters, numbers and symbols mixing in uppercase letters with lowercase letters.

It’s smart to misspell a little. If you are using real words or phrases in your strong Wi-Fi password, try to make them unique and difficult to hack. For example, for your “I love summer” password, use something like “1LUv3ummEr!”

Wi-Fi passwords to avoid. Even if you used letters and numbers, you may still have created a common weak Wi-Fi password. Avoid using these:

Every Wi-Fi hacking software will try these first.