More and more of us are using wireless routers. A recent post by Aditi Jhaveri Consumer Education Specialist for the FTC takes us through the best practices of setting up a wireless router.
We need to fight the temptation to rush through the set-up process. Here’s why you should pay close attention while setting up your router, and afterwards.
Heard of ASUSTeK? Among other things, they sell ASUS-branded wireless routers for home use. Some of their routers come with features — called AiCloud and AiDisk — that allow people to attach a hard drive to their routers and create their own “cloud” storage.
More and more of us are using wireless routers. A recent post by Aditi Jhaveri Consumer Education Specialist for the FTC takes us through the best practices of setting up a wireless router.
We need to fight the temptation to rush through the set-up process. Here’s why you should pay close attention while setting up your router, and afterwards.
Heard of ASUSTeK? Among other things, they sell ASUS-branded wireless routers for home use. Some of their routers come with features — called AiCloud and AiDisk — that allow people to attach a hard drive to their routers and create their own “cloud” storage. According to the FTC’s complaint, ASUS routers had major security flaws that allowed hackers to harm consumers in several ways, including getting access to sensitive personal information — like tax documents — that people stored through these “cloud” services.
If you have an ASUS router at home, take these steps right away:
• Download the latest security updates for your router. According to the FTC, the ASUS router update tool often indicated that software was current when it wasn’t, putting people’s home networks at risk. Moving forward, ASUS is required to provide accurate information about software updates. So check the router’s software update tool and the ASUS support site again for the newest security updates.
• Check if access to your network storage is limited. Make sure access to AiCloud and AiDisk is limited to what you want. The FTC took issue with the default option during AiDisk’s set-up, which gave anyone on the Internet access to your storage. For more privacy, choose “limited” or “admin rights” access instead of “limitless.”
• Change pre-set passwords. According to the FTC, ASUS pre-set weak default passwords on every router. So create new passwords that are strong and unique for both your router and any “cloud” services — something only you know. This can help prevent hackers from getting easy access to your network.
No matter what brand wireless network you set up, it is important to be deliberate about each step of set up and maintenance process.
For more on best practices in the realm of identity theft protection please visit www.legalshredinc.com