TechLife Australia – September 2019

Beef up network security

MAKESUREYOURNETWORKI PROTECTEDFROMOUTSIDETHREATS

NOWISTHEtimetoturntothethorny

issueofnetworksecurity.Youdon’twantto

begivingneighboursfreeWi-Fiorletting

anyTom,DickorHarrygaineasyaccessto

yournetworkforwhatevernefarious

purposes.(Remember,anythingdoneon

yournetworkbecomesyourresponsibility.)

GETTHEBASICSSORTED

Steponeis tolockdownyournetworkfrom

actualintruders– thosewithinphysical

rangeofyourWi-Finetwork.Theguide

oppositerevealssixstepsyoucanfollowto

tightensecurityat thislevel.Whenit comes

topassword-protectingWi-Fi,makesure

youchooseWPA2-PSKencryption.WPA2

is ageinganditsreputationtooka battering

withtherecentKRACKSvulnerability–

speakingofwhich,checkyourrouter’s

firmwareis uptodate– butit’sstill

adequateformostpeople’sneeds,at least

untilWPA3is widelyused.

Thereareotherstepsyoucantaketo

dissuadepeoplefromgettingontoyour

network,fromhidingyourSSID(network

name)todisablingyourrouter’sDHCP

server,whichmeansmanuallyconfiguring

everydeviceonyournetworktoaccessit.

Theseproceduresstopcasualpiggybacking

wherea neighbourhasgotholdofyourWi-Fi

password,buttheydon’tstophackersandit’s

bettertoknowif thepasswordhasbeen

compromisedandactswiftlytochangeit.

KEEPHACKERSATBAY

Yournetworkisn’tsimplyat riskfrompeople

inclosephysicalproximity.It canbe

infiltratedbyhackersfromtheothersideof

theworldtoo.

Manyroutersofferremotemanagement

support,whichcangiveremotehackersan

easy‘in’toyournetwork.Logintoyour

router’sconfigurationutility.If you’restill

usingthefactory-defaultpasswordforyour

routertologin,changeit immediately(look

fortheappropriatesettingunderSystem

ToolsorAdministration).Makesureyou

disableremoteadministrationtoprevent

anyonefromoutsideyournetworkbeingable

tologintoyourrouter– thiscanoftenbe

foundinthesameplaceastheadministrator

passwordsetting.

Next,exploreyourrouter’sUPnPandport

forwardingsettings– thismakesnetwork

communicationbetweendevicessimplerby

openingportsbetweenthem.It’salsousedto

allowappstocommunicateovertheinternet

usingnon-standardports,butit canopenup

holesforhackers.

LookfortheUPnPsectionunderNAT

Forwardingtoseewhatportshavealready

beenopened.Makea noteoftheexternal

port,protocol,internalportandIPaddress

theportsarebeingroutedto– thelastrefers

tothedeviceusingtheports.If anylook

suspicious,disableUPnPandinvestigate.

Evenif they’realllegitimate,consider

puttingsecurityaheadofconvenience,

leavingUPnPdisabledandapplyingthese

settingsmanuallyviathePortForwardingor

PortTriggeringsectiononyourrouter

instead.Goingforwardyou’dhaveto

manuallyopenportswhencertainappsor

servicesrequestthem,butinstructions

shouldbeprovidedonline(Appleprovidesa

listofportsusedbyitssoftwareatbit.ly/

aplpt, forexample).

Disableremoteadministrationtoreducetheriskof‘drive-byremotehacking.

UPnPisconvenient,butit’salsoa securityrisk.Consider

manuallyforwardingportsinstead.

SUPERGUIDE

IMPROVE YOUR HOME NETWORK