Our guide to Protecting Your Home Network

No matter what type of a network you are using, you will need some kind of a “router”. What this does is connects all the computers (either by cables or wirelessly) to each other, and at the same time shares out the internet broadband connection from your ISP (Internet Service Provider). This is the first area that you can secure your network, by making sure that your router has a firewall built in and is properly configured to keep hackers out. Most routers have automatic firewalls that require very little configuration, so once it’s set up, it won’t bother you again. To configure it, check your router’s documentation. Test out the effectiveness by going to the address www.grc.com and following the instructions for the “ShieldsUP!” diagnostic.

If you are using a wireless-enabled router, then you will want to make sure that you have some type of encryption enabled to prevent hackers from snooping around your systems or quietly using your internet connection for themselves. Check your manual again and read up on how to enable WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or even better yet, Wi-Fi Protected Access. Both of these will encode the wireless signals sent between your computers and the router so that information isn’t sent in plain text, and only those systems that have the encryption keys (as set by the router) will be allowed to connect.

Another back-up security procedure you may want to do is enable the Windows Firewall on all your XP computers. This is just an added bit of security so that if someone did actually compromise your router’s firewall, they would be faced with a second firewall on each machine. Finally, make sure to always keep your computers patched with the latest Windows Updates from Microsoft (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/). It may be a good idea to occasionally check the manufacturer’s site of your router to see if they have any firmware updates available for you router, which will probably add functionality and security to the device.

Unfortunately, with so many different possible configurations and different routers available, it’s not feasible to create an exact guide. Hopefully, however, you will be able to keep some of these points in mind when you are setting up your network. Nowadays, the majority of products are already geared for security, so it’s not too difficult to protect your home network.