Changing a single Wi-Fi setting can stop criminals stealing your identity and ignoring it could ‘ruin your credit score’
YOUR Wi-Fi network is a gateway to the internet – but also into your home.
Cybercriminals sometimes target Wi-Fi networks and routers as a way to steal your personal information.
Thankfully there’s a handy trick that can save you from some Wi-Fi attacks, as revealed by cyber-experts at Keeper Security.
Wi-Fi dangers
While it’s unlikely (but not impossible) that your guest will hack you, someone who has compromised their device might.
This could lead to your own network being infiltrated by crooks.
At the most basic level, cyber-criminals could steal your Wi-Fi to use your network for free.
This could slow down your internet, and potentially allow criminals to use your network for other criminal activities.
But there are far more serious possibilities if a crook can break into your Wi-Fi network.
“While it may seem strange that anyone would want to connect to your network, keep in mind your unencrypted internet traffic has enough private information to steal your identity,” explained Keeper Security’s Aranza Trevino.
“Identity theft has terrible consequences.
“Thieves can ruin a victim’s credit score by opening credit cards and not paying them off, stealing every dollar in the victim’s bank accounts, transferring the victim’s home to their name or committing crimes for which the victim could be blamed.
“Threat actors have also used unsecured WiFi to gain access to baby monitors and other connected devices.”
Be our guest…
A good option to stay safe is to create a guest Wi-Fi network.
This is a network that you can easily shut off that is separate to your primary Wi-Fi network.
They’re very simple to set up, and are designed for visitors to your home.
It won’t give them access to the devices on your main network if they were hacked.
And they won’t be able to monitor your network traffic either.
“A guest network is a limited WiFi connection,” Aranza explained.
“That allows people to use your router to connect to the internet without gaining access to your primary network, along with all of your connected devices.
“This network will have a separate password, which should also be strong.”
Just log on to your Wi-Fi router’s setting page.
You can do this by entering its default IP address or login URL into a web browser.
You’ll typically find this on the back of your router.
Then look for the guest network settings and create one.
Once that’s done, you can share this dedicated guest network with any visitors – helping to keep your primary network safe.