Cyber Security Topics in my CCNA Journey — Part 14: Securing Your Wifi
Greetings! If you haven’t read my previous story yet, I suggest you read it here:
Okay I’m releasing 2 this week! This one’s a bonus. I could’ve combined this with the last but it would have been way too long. If you’ve gotten through the last one, congrats on making it! Let’s get your wireless network secure.
Before we start, you might be thinking: Why should I care? I don’t know, why should you? Do you use online banking? Do you handle any personal or financial data online? Things that maybe have your social security number? Medical records? Do you care at all about your privacy? You might think you don’t, but what if a hacker got on your network and published all your browsing history? Would you be okay with that? Have you ever posted something online that you wouldn’t want certain people to see like family, employers, etc? I’m not talking about anything illegal, but let’s face it. You do care somewhat about privacy, especially if it involves your private bank account or your IRS tax return.
Or, there could be more sinister reasons to care. What if you have an ex that’s a stalker? What if you’re a witness in some witness protection program? What if you’re a victim of a crime and you don’t want to be found by the perpetrator? What if you’re a journalist and you don’t want people snooping on you, spying on you, or harassing you? Or, the worst thing, what if you have kids and there’s a child predator in the neighborhood? You don’t want your kids using wifi on a wide open network that someone could just hop onto.
Your home wifi security matters. And if you’re a business owner or part of a business, and you manage confidential information like millions of credit card numbers, patient information, financial data, etc, you want your wireless network to be secure. Okay, hopefully at this point you’ve met at least one of those reasons to care about securing your wireless network. Well, I would never wish for you to be in a dangerous situation like dealing with a stalker or child predator, but that would be very good reason to secure your home wifi.
There are 3 components that make up a secure wireless network: Authentication, encryption, and integrity checks. Authentication makes the people that try to join a network prove who they are, or prove that they know something to be able to join the network, like a wifi password. Encryption is something that happens on the back end, but something you need to make sure you set up correctly when setting up your home router. Integrity checks are other things that happen on the back end that prove that the data sent/received isn’t tampered with. This goes hand-in-hand with encryption to protect your data, and is determined based on the wifi settings you choose when setting up your home router. If you’re technical, I’ll include more details later, but we need to get the bare minimum security set up for non-technical people. Let’s start there. This can also be a good check for you if you are technical to see how much you really know about wireless security.
Quick Check — Is your wifi Secure or not?
Stop what you’re doing right now, pull out a device that’s connected to your home wifi if you haven’t already (some people may still be on a desktop reading this), then check the wifi settings. Here’s how for the non-technical people.
Windows:
Click on the wifi symbol in the bottom right corner, find your network you’re connected to (should be highlighted at the top), click on properties:
Mac:
Click on the wifi symbol, open network preferences.
You might also be able to open the general settings, go to network, and click on the Wi-Fi option. You should see something like this:
Android/iPhone:
You should be able to go into wifi settings, click on the wifi you’re connected to, click on some gear icon or settings/properties, and see the info there. It may vary depending on what phone model you have so you can always Google how to get to those settings based on your model. It might look something like this:
Linux:
If you’re using Linux and don’t know how to secure your home wifi, as a wise man once said, “you may not have any business using Linux”. In all seriousness, I’ll leave that up to you to search for and find. There’s many different flavors and distributions of Linux.
Survey says…..
Okay you’ve found the settings, now for the moment of truth. Pay especially close attention to the security type. If you see anything other than WPA2 or WPA3 at the beginning, your network is very likely not secure. WPA without 2 or 3 after it is also not secure. Here’s the list of what is and isn’t secure.
Secure:
- WPA2-Personal
- WPA3-Personal
- WPA2-Enterprise
- WPA3-Enterprise (all 4 of these may or may not say AES after it, which is good).
- 802.1x with EAP-TLS
Not Secure:
- Open (this is the absolute worst option to have, but the other options below are not good either)
- WPA-Personal
- WPA-Enterprise
- WPA-PSK
- WEP
- 802.11x WEP
- 802.1x with LEAP
- Anything else that mentions WEP or WPA (WPA1 is just called WPA)
- Anything that mentions TKIP
- Anything that mentions LEAP
- Your neighbor’s wifi, if it falls under anything listed under “not secure” (it doesn’t matter who owns it; a network that is not secure is a network that is not secure)
If you met the secure list, congrats! This won’t guarantee you won’t suffer from a cyber attack, but that is a very good first step at securing your home wifi. If you’re on the not secure list, I would urge you to get that fixed immediately. I’ll explain why as well, but first the steps to make your network secure if it’s not.
You Failed the Security Check — How to Fix It
If you’ve never signed into your home router settings, or it’s been a long time, you can look on the bottom of the router. It will usually give you an IP address to go to like 192.168.1.1 or 10.0.0.1 for example. Type that into a browser, then sign in. If you don’t remember your password, you may need to reset it.
WARNING: If you have your home router set to the default password, change it immediately. Write down the new password if you have to, because that would be much better than keeping it set to the default and putting your home network at risk. Hackers can easily google your router model’s default username and password and infiltrate your home network. This is one of the easiest and most common methods they will use to break into your home network, and not just wireless. That would include wired too, and you would have your entire home network wide open to the internet and any attacks from there.
If you need to factory reset your home router, I would do so. Just remember! You need to change your password and make sure it’s not set to the default router username and password. You also need to make sure you have a strong password. Using your home address is not secure or clever at all. You also don’t want to use happy123 or password123, qwerty, or many other easily guessable passwords. And if you post about it a lot on social media like your kids, your pets, your favorite food or drinks, probably not good either. Here’s a list of common passwords to not use:
Why do you want to use a strong password on your home router? If you don’t have a dedicated firewall (also with a strong password or authentication method), chances are your home router is your only defense to the outside, aka the internet and the millions (or maybe even billions) of malicious hackers out there.
Once you have a strong password set on your router login and no longer have the default used, you’ll want to go into the wireless network settings. There should be an option to choose from for “Security” or “Security type” or “type”. This may vary widely based on the router you have. If you can’t find the settings, you can Google the router type you have to get directions on where to change this. You should see your home wifi name somewhere, and you should see whatever non-secure method you have, maybe some drop-down to choose from, where you have WEP or something else that’s non-secure selected. Select WPA2 or WPA3 from the drop-down. If your older devices have trouble connecting to WPA3, you may need to change it to WPA2. Enterprise or personal is fine, as long as it’s 2 or 3. If it’s your home router, you likely won’t have enterprise as an option, or if you do, you might not have the other enterprise software set up to use it. Typically you’ll want WPA2 personal for most home routers. Choose the highest WPA you can that works. That’s typically what’s recommended. There’s no reason why WPA2 at this point shouldn’t work for you, so going lower than that is not necessary and it puts you at risk.
If you don’t see WPA2 or WPA3 as an option, then you need to get a new router. If it can’t even support the current security standards and only has non-secure options available, it’s time to replace it for your own good, for security and privacy of your home network, not even just wifi.
If Googling your home router doesn’t prove to be helpful for you, or you’re still locked out and can’t manage to factory reset it, you could always call a friend that’s more tech-savvy, or a spouse or child of yours, or call your ISP for assistance (Internet Service Provider, like Mediacom, CenturyLink, MetroNet, Google Fiber, etc) if you got the router from your ISP. If you own the router, I’m guessing you know how to at least get into it, but if not, you could also try contacting the manufacturer of the router (like Asus, LinkSys, Netgear, etc). Chances are though you can either click around and find the settings, or Google can direct you to where you need to go.
When you’re done changing the security settings to something more secure, sign out of your home router. You’ll likely need to reconnect all of your wireless devices to it again. Also, I didn’t say earlier, but you’ll also want to use a secure password for the wifi itself, which is separate from your router login password.
My Router doesn’t Have Those Options — What Do I Do?
Buy a new router if all you have is WEP and WPA, and not WPA2 or WPA3. If your device doesn’t have the hardware or software to support secure methods of using wifi, it needs to go. And now I feel the need to explain why you need to replace your hardware in general. No, you don’t have to wait until it’s completely busted and inoperable. No, it’s not a scam to get you to buy more hardware. The way technology works is the people that build and design it also have to constantly test it, patch it, keep up with the hackers constantly trying to find vulnerabilities to exploit, and they can only do that for so long with old hardware when they have a bunch of new hardware to also test and patch. It’s not unreasonable for them to have an end of life for them. You don’t expect old car parts or the entire care in general to last forever, do you? Why would computers be any different and violate the law of physics? Why wouldn’t they have natural wear and tear like literally everything else in the universe?
Microsoft typically will support an operating system for about 10 years. That’s actually a long time for technology. Think about how drastically technology changed between 1999 and 2009. A whole decade is full of changes, and with that comes a decade full of hackers that have found so many flaws and exploits that the developers eventually have to call it quits and focus on keeping their newer products secure. Don’t get me wrong. There are bad reasons to buy new tech. But there are many good reasons.
How do I know when I need to upgrade my Operating System (OS)?
If your router is secure but the wireless devices that connect to it are not, then you’re still at risk. Like I said, there’s bad reasons and good reasons to upgrade your tech.
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Bad reasons to buy new tech:
- I like having the latest and the greatest. I need an 8k gaming PC with the latest hardware to play old, 8-bit games. I don’t care if I drag myself to financial ruin (you shouldn’t go overboard and have expensive tech when you won’t use it to the extent it needs to be used).
- Billy Bob at school has a new phone and I’m jealous. I need my 3 month old phone replaced to keep up with Billy Bob (you probably need to address the underlying issues you have instead of trying to fill your void with newer tech).
- I like how shiny and pretty this tech looks (you can pay for a fancy looking computer case or phone case, aka it’s cosmetic).
- My 6 month old brand new PC was fast at first but it’s slow now (aka you don’t know how to clean it up and maintain it).
- Kids at school or people at work are making fun of me for having an Android instead of an iPhone (kids are jerks. They’ll find something else to make fun of you for anyways. Might as well take the option that doesn’t destroy you or your parents’ finances. Adult people are jerks too. It happens).
Good reasons to buy new tech:
- Microsoft no longer supports this OS and my computer can’t handle a newer OS.
- I’m missing a TPM 2.0 chip and need to be able to encrypt my laptop for HIPPA compliance, and the rest of the hardware is lacking too.
- My router doesn’t support any current secure methods of using wifi.
- The latest OS my smartphone can handle is no longer supported.
- The device is busted.
- The device is around 8 to 10 years old and runs real slow because the hardware has reached its limits.
When should I upgrade at least for security reasons? If the OS is no longer supported, they won’t have security updates as I said, and if your device doesn’t have the hardware to support newer, more secure versions, time to replace. Here’s the list of common OS’s that are out of date and need upgraded immediately:
Windows desktop/laptop: Windows 8.1 and older is no longer supported and puts you at risk. Upgrade to either Windows 10 or Windows 11. Windows 10 will no longer be supported in October 2025.
MacOS: Mac OS 11 “Big Sur” and earlier are no longer supported and puts you at risk (no, macs are not invincible and invulnerable to cyber attacks, especially if you’re using an unsupported OS). Upgrade to at least MacOS 12 (Monterey). MacOS 13 (Ventura) and MacOS 14 (Sonoma) are also good.
Android: Android 11 ‘Red Velvet Cake’ and older is no longer supported and puts you at risk. Upgrade to at least Android 12 ‘Snow Cone’. Android 12.1 ‘Snow Cone v2’ (aka 12L), 13 ‘Tiramisu’, and 14 ‘Upside Down Cake’ are also good.
Apple iOS: If you’re on Apple iOS 14 or older, you are at risk. Upgrade to at least version 15. Version 16 and 17 are also good. Also worthy of note here, Apple is no longer giving active support for versions 15 and 16, but it is giving security support for them still. If you want more technical assistance from Apple if you run into issues, you’ll want to be on version 17. If you don’t require that but you just need your OS to be secure, versions 15 and 16 are okay.
Other OS’s:
There’s many, many more OS’s, and the ones that are supported will change over time. You can follow this site here to track all the OS’s and their security support:
I’ve Upgraded my OS to be secure, but now my device runs slower! I can’t stand this! What do I do?!
If your device is able to run the oldest OS that still receives security updates, but your device runs slow and it’s not tolerable to you, that means you met the bare minimum requirements to run the OS but you probably don’t have the recommended hardware for it to run more efficiently. It’s time to look up recommended hardware specs that allow your device to run the OS more efficiently, and if you’re going to spend money on a new device, I would recommend getting one that can run the latest OS efficiently to future proof yourself for at least a few years.
This is why it is not a scam to have to upgrade your tech. If you don’t upgrade it when it no longer receives security updates, hackers can have a field day with it. Do you like your private info like your bank account, health info, kids’ home address, etc to be protected? You do? Good. That means you just found a reason to upgrade your tech. If you’re a business and you’re trying to pinch pennies, that’s understandable. You don’t have to buy the latest and greatest. But you do need to at least have hardware and software that meets those bare minimum security requirements if you want to protect your data and the data of your customers/patients/clients.
Also, if your device can’t connect to WPA2 wifi, that’s another good sign it needs to be replaced, if I haven’t said that already. But if you’re on an OS that’s supported, chances are you’re able to use WPA2 wifi.
Technical Details — After Securing Your Home Wifi, Explanations
I’m glad we got your home wireless network secure. I’m glad you also know what wireless devices are or aren’t secure. Now let’s look into why those settings are secure or not secure. What is WPA, WPA2, WEP, etc? There’s a lot of acronyms, but I’ll explain the basics and why they are or aren’t secure.
Authentication
Bottom line, you need to password protect your wifi. Having no password lets anyone join without having to authenticate, or prove who they are. Nobody should be able to just join your network. You should have control over who is allowed to join. Most modern devices will even warn you when there’s an SSID that’s not password protected and you try to join it. It will let you know that the network is not secure. And that goes both ways. If a network isn’t password protected, be very careful about joining it and what kind of data you access over it. Joining a coffee shop wifi that’s not password protected and accessing your bank account would not be a good idea. Some phone providers will also give you an option to use their own VPN when connecting to public networks. I would utilize that, or simply get unlimited data and stay off unprotected networks, use your cellular data and stay isolated from those insecure public wifi networks.
If you’re a business, I would still urge you to password protect even your guest network. Have a receptionist provide the password to guests when they ask. Not only does that prevent people from outside your business from joining it, it also requires that person to walk up to a person, show their face, and speak and ask for the password.
Now there’s more to authentication than just having a password set up. There’s also methods of authenticating that systems can use, and some of them are not safe, so you need to be aware of those and use the ones that are more secure. Some may have started out as secure, but over time, as technology improved, what was once difficult to break into suddenly can become a lot easier with advancements. We call this “deprecated” which means vulnerabilities and serious exploits have been found and it has been deemed no longer secure to use.
Without getting into all the technical details, here’s a list of authentication methods that are deprecated and/or not secure:
- Open Authentication (it was never secure to begin with so not even technically deprecated, but is definitely not secure)
- Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) — has been deprecated since 2004.
- Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP) — this was Cisco’s proprietary authentication method that got invented around the time WEP was deprecated, but it too has been deprecated. It attempted to rotate keys that WEP used, but the method used to encrypt the challenge messages was found to be vulnerable.
- 802.1x aka EAP (extensible authentication protocol) — This includes many forms of EAP, some of which are secure and some aren’t. That will be covered in the rest of the list here.
- EAP-FAST (EAP Flexible Authentication by Secure Tunneling) — The CCNA textbook never says whether or not it’s deprecated, but it likely has more vulnerabilities than EAP-TLS (transport layer security), and EAP-TLS should be used instead.
- EAP-PEAP (Protected EAP) — Same thing as EAP-FAST, better off using EAP-TLS. There are known vulnerabilities with EAP-PEAP as well.
Secure authentication:
EAP-TLS is the secure method of authentication. It uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) which is the standard encryption for data in transit.
Encryption
We’ve all heard of encryption, but what is it? Do you remember using Pig Latin in grade school and thinking you were being clever? That’s similar to encryption. Encryption is basically scrambling and mixing a message to the point where someone that intercepts that message likely won’t be able to make sense of it. If you don’t have a good encryption method though, they might be able to unscramble it and read your private message. This has been a thing since the dawn of human civilization and has been used a lot in military settings. But with the age of digitalization, encryption needs to be used even by civilians. Why? Because hackers can read unencrypted data, and they can even read encrypted data if it’s using weak encryption.
Back in World War 2, the German Nazis were using encryption by a machine which was proving to be very difficult to break, and it was called “The Enigma Code”. What changed the game for the allies going against the Nazis was Alan Turing of Great Britain building and using a machine to fight a machine. He used a machine to decrypt and was able to crack the infamous “Enigma Code”. If you haven’t seen “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, I strongly recommend watching that.
But how does that relate to today? Like Alan Turing, hackers can use tech to break encryption, but in a malicious way. And if you’re using weak, outdated, aka deprecated encryption methods, they will do that with relative ease. So what encryption methods are still secure enough that it would take centuries to break? Which ones would be easy to break? Here’s the list:
Deprecated:
- Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) — Contained authentication and encryption. It is all now deprecated.
- Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) — Was initially built to replace WEP but had severe vulnerabilities discovered not too long after. WPA uses TKIP for encryption, which is why WPA is no longer secure. TKIP is a deprecated encryption method.
Currently considered secure:
- Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) — This is considered the current standard of encryption nowadays, and the more bits you have in it, if that’s an option you can select, the more difficult it is to break. 256-bit AES is the current standard for desktop/laptop encryption. For wifi, there are 2 encryption and integrity methods that use it, which are listed as the next in the list:
- Counter/CBC-MAC Protocol (CCMP) — I know, that’s an acyronmyception. Lots of acronyms. CCMP uses AES encryption and CBC-MAC for message integrity check (MIC), which I will get into on the next section. CCMP is used by WPA2.
- Galios/Counter Mode Protocol (GCMP) — Uses AES for encryption as well as Galois Message Authentication Code (GMAC) for message integrity check (MIC). GCMP is used by WPA3. GCMP is more robust and efficient than CCMP. Both are considered acceptable for now, but GCMP will likely be used more and more as newer devices come out that support it.
Message Integrity Checks (MIC)
Let’s say there’s authentication, there’s encryption with the data passing through wifi, which is great, but what happens if someone is snooping on it and decides to tamper with the data, even if they haven’t gotten past the authentication or encryption? How would you know that the message you received across wireless is the actual intended and original message? The answer is you wouldn’t, at least not without an integrity check. That’s what MIC is for. It adds a piece of data to the encryption that is used to check and verify whether or not the message was altered before it reached its destination. MIC goes hand-in-hand with encryption, because if you don’t have your integrity checks within encryption, it might be easier for someone to falsify those checks (defeating the purpose of the checks). What are good methods of MIC to use vs not so secure? It’s the same as the encryption list mentioned previously. TKIP is deprecated while CCMP and GCMP are currently considered secure, for encryption and integrity checks.
WPA, WPA2 and WPA3
As you can see, WPA and WPA2/3 use a combination of authentication, encryption, and message integrity checks (MIC). That allows you to see why WPA is deprecated and WPA2/WPA3 are considered more secure. Each of them has a personal version, which uses pre-shared keys (PSK), and an enterprise version, which uses 802.1x standard, aka the EAP standard. It’s important to note that none of the WPA versions require a specific EAP method, so just because you’re using WPA2 or WPA3 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s secure, if you’re using EAP-LEAP for example. You should use EAP-TLS for WPA2-enterprise and WPA3-enterprise. If it’s for your home router, WPA2-personal is most likely the option you’re using, which will use a pre-shared key (PSK). This is fine for a home setting and even a small business setting. To recap:
WPA-personal — uses a PSK for authentication, TKIP for encryption and MIC. Not secure due to deprecation of TKIP.
WPA-enterprise — uses EAP for authentication, TKIP for encryption and MIC. Same as personal, not secure.
WPA2-personal — uses PSK for authentication, CCMP for encryption and MIC. Considered secure currently.
WPA2-enterprise — uses EAP for authentication, CCMP for encryption and MIC. Considered secure if using EAP-TLS. Not secure if using other EAP methods such as LEAP, EAP-FAST, or PEAP. EAP-TTLS or EAP-SIM may also be acceptable, but LEAP and EAP-FAST should not be used. PEAP is questionable and might be better to avoid.
WPA3-personal — uses PSK for authentication, GCMP for encryption and MIC. Considered secure currently.
WPA3-enterprise — uses EAP for authentication, GCMP for encryption and MIC. Considered secure if using EAP-TLS. Not secure if using other EAP methods such as LEAP, EAP-FAST, or PEAP. Same details as WPA2-enterprise for authentication.
[End of Technical Details]
Fun little adventure
I decided to spend my Friday evening doing some OSINT, or some Open Source Intelligence gathering, on a few businesses in my community. What OSINT is, essentially, is just using public information to gather data about someone or something, and it’s perfectly legal because that data is open to the public. What I did was I just went around with my phone and looked at what wifi was being broadcasted by some businesses, and what security methods each of those wifi SSIDs had. I did not connect to any of them, I did not do any pentesting, because that would be illegal without their consent. I simply saw what they had broadcasted for anyone nearby to see. I looked at a few small businesses like some coffee shops and some medical facilities. I’m proud to say I saw all the wireless connections in the medical facilities broadcasting WPA2-personal or WPA2-enterprise signals. You can easily see this on a Mac laptop or your phone, and if it doesn’t tell you right away under the SSID, there’s free and legal wifi scanning tools you can use to see what’s available, what’s taking up certain channels. Network engineers will often use these to see if there’s excessive interference in the area.
Now what would be crossing ethical, moral, and legal boundaries would be if you were to connect to any of these wireless connections without the owners’ permission. I would say even if it has open authentication, if you don’t know what it’s for, don’t connect to it. I obeyed those rules, just saw the info that was being publicly broadcasted, nothing more. There was one SSID that was open auth near a medical facility, but that business itself wasn’t technically something medical, aka a business that handles HIPPA, and based on the name, it appeared that was a guest wifi. Although I still would recommend even using WPA2 on guest networks, I’m glad I never saw anything wide open on things that were obviously for a medical setting.
Think about this: If you have guests and patients visiting your medical facility, and they connect to your guest wifi, and it’s open auth, no encryption whatsoever, and you send them links to fill out pre-medical exam forms, and that contains PHI, you’re technically getting into a murky area that could potentially be a HIPPA violation. It might be okay if your guests understand the risks involved on that, and it’s technically on their device, but you’re providing them an insecure network and asking them to fill out those forms on their devices. I would strongly encourage any medical facility that handles PHI/PII (or any business that handles sensitive data) to use WPA2 on all of their wireless SSIDs including the guest networks. Why not keep your guests secure? It doesn’t strain your network hardware at all. If you’re worried about the guest network using up resources, I would suggest restricting or throttling the bandwidth usage over the guest network, rather than making it completely open to anyone to connect to, and allowing anyone to see the data across it completely unencrypted. Even if you have to post a sign at the front desk that says “Our guest wifi password is this: blahblah etc” that’s still better than leaving it wide open and unencrypted.
Nonetheless, the only open encryption I saw was for that non-medical business I saw, as well as a coffee shop. That’s exactly why you don’t want to access sensitive data on public wifi like at coffee shops, hotels, or airports. Anyone could be snooping on your data across that to the internet or wherever else it goes. Bank account info, payment/credit card info, PHI/PII, etc, I would recommend never using that across those networks. I would recommend just getting unlimited data, or keeping a better eye on your data usage if your budget is lower, or just using your home network to do all of that (after making sure it’s secure of course). But all in all, I’m proud of the numerous secure wifi connections I viewed in my community. If you’re in my community of central Iowa and want more advanced assessments of the wireless security of your business, I suggest you contact Secure Point Solutions. They do excellent work professionally, and they routinely participate in educating our community on cybersecurity.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/securepointia
Non-Technical Summary
To be secure with wifi, you should use WPA2-personal or WPA3-personal in home or small business settings. You should use WPA2-enterprise or WPA3-enterprise in mid to large-sized businesses, specifically with EAP-TLS authentication, or EAP-TTLS, or EAP-SIM. EAP-TLS is best. Also, there may still be many devices that don’t support or operate well with WPA3, so WPA2 may be more commonly seen currently. Eventually WPA3 will be the new standard. It’s still perfectly acceptable to use if it works for all of your devices you plan to use it with. It’s generally recommended to use the highest WPA settings your devices can all support.
Security methods to avoid, not secure: WEP, TKIP, WPA-personal, WPA-enterprise, or LEAP or EAP-FAST when used with any of the WPA standards (including WPA2 and WPA3).
You will also need devices that can handle WPA2 at the very least, and WPA3 if you desire to use WPA3. You’ll want those devices to be able to efficiently handle operating systems that are supported, aka receive security updates. If you use devices that aren’t secure on your wireless network, it doesn’t matter how secure you make your wifi. You’re still at risk. Use operating systems that receive regular security updates, aka ones that are still supported. See here for a list of the supported operating systems for computers, phones, and other devices:
That site makes it quick and easy to see whether or not you’re on a supported OS. They do a fine job at making it short and sweet.
Thanks for reading! Keep your home network and your family secure! And if you’re a business, keep your business wifi secure as well, for the sake of you, your business, and your customers/clients/patients. Let’s all keep ourselves as secure as we can for the betterment of our community.
Next in the series:
