Protecting our WiFi network is probably a repetitive problem like playing cat and mouse. The trick is always to keep one step ahead of the hacker and to place as many barriers as possible in their way. The more barriers the hackers have to leap over, the higher the chance they would look elsewhere for more vulnerable or exposed network.

Follow these tips to keep our WiFi network safe:

1. Pick the latest and greatest WiFi security protocol.
   Most modern routers and modem offer several security protocols. Log in to router or modem or modem with administrator ID and password and pick WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access 2). Read more details on how to setup here
2. Choose a strong password
   Here are some thoughts to create a strong password.
   • Length. Make your passwords at least 25 characters long.
   • Complexity. Include a combination of at least three (3) upper and/or lowercase letters, punctuation, symbols, and numerals. The more variety of characters in your password, the better.

   A password checker evaluates your password’s strength automatically. Try Microsoft  password checker.

3. Hide your WiFi network
   We can set most routers and modems not to broadcast the presence of our WiFi network so that it is not exposed. However, some hackers could use scanner to detect a hidden network
4. Change the password periodically, and use different password
   The benefit of password expiration is actually debatable, so it depends to our personal preference to remember our password histories. However, we don’t want to make easy for the hacker to access our password from secured sites such as online banking with one single password. By having different password, we are preventing them from gaining easy access to our important account.
5. Filter MAC Address
   Hardware identifier is called a MAC Address. By setting our devices such as notebook, phone, tablet, etc to only allow certain MAC address, we could make one more barrier for a novice hacker accessing our wireless network easily.
6. Monitor connection
   Check the security log to find out any unusual activity or unfamiliar MAC address.
7. Install a good antivirus and firewall
   A hacker usually do a port scan to look for open “doors” on your machines if she/he wants to steal data from our device or inject a virus or malwares
8. Turn off the WiFi network
   Always turn off our network if we are no longer using it, for example away or on holiday.