March 23, 2020 by Tim
Last week, the World Economic Forum warned businesses that working from home due to COVID-19 presents a major cybersecurity risk. For one thing, people are simply spending more time online. The stress of the situation can also lower your defenses, making you more susceptible to scams and cyberattacks, as we discussed last week. Last, and probably most important, is the fact that home computers and networks are typically much less secure than those found at business offices. The rapid increase in people working on these less-secure networks has put cybercriminals on the attack.
So, what can you do to protect yourself if you are working from home?
It’s always important to be cautious when opening email, downloading files, and installing software. Under today’s extraordinary circumstances, we need to dial up our defenses even more. As we detailed last week, bad actors are even creating scams and attacks designed to imitate news articles about the Coronavirus.
Remember: when in doubt, don’t click. You are the first line of defense.
If you come across anything suspicious, Green Mountain IT Solutions is interested. Please send us a screenshot by pressing the PrtSc key on your keyboard and then pasting the image into an email (right-click and select Paste, or press Ctrl + V). You can find our contact information here.
Business networks typically have much better security than the average person has at home. You can improve your home network security by paying attention to three things:
If you are a Comcast user, there’s at least a 50% chance that if I got onto your WiFi, I could break into your router in 5 seconds flat and have full control over your network. How can this be? It’s simple: most Comcast subscribers use the router that Comcast gives them, and most Comcast installers will leave the administrator password set to the default, which is either highspeed or just password. The ideal situation would be to install your own router, but at minimum we recommend changing this password. You can do so by typing http://10.0.0.1 into your browser’s address bar and pressing Enter. You will see a web page where you can log in with the default username and password: either admin / password or cusadmin / highspeed. Now, click Change Password at the top right. Set a strong password here.
Log in to your Comcast box and click Change Password at the top right.
While you are logged in to your Comcast box, you should also change your WiFi password. If you are like most people, you (and your family members) hand out the WiFi password to anyone who asks. This is a major vulnerability! Your friends’ computers can spread infections across your network, and if anyone manages to hack their device, the attacker will be able to pull your WiFi password from their saved credentials. To get a fresh start on the devices that can access your network, change the WiFi password by logging into your router again. Now, select Gateway > Connection > WiFi. Select Edit beside the network name to change the password. If you see two networks listed (2.4GHz and 5GHz), change them both. It is OK to have the same name and password for both networks.
While it’s better to ditch the Comcast device entirely and purchase your own network equipment, you can improve your security by changing the Wifi password.
Device control is another important point to consider. It simply means carefully managing who and what makes it on to your network. As we mentioned above, you can start by restricting who you share your WiFi access with. You should also be wary of letting older computers or those you suspect may be infected on to the network, as well as so-called “smart home” devices (especially those from less-than-reputable manufacturers).
Lastly, be sure you stay up to date on all your devices. This means installing updates and patches, such as Windows Updates, when they are released. We all are guilty of ignoring our updates from time to time, but failing to install them can leave you vulnerable.
Password management is a topic that deserves its own article, which we will be posting in the future. A good start is to follow these common-sense tips:
An IT professional can help you take your cybersecurity to the next level. For example, you may want to configure a guest network to provide WiFi access to visitors, while keeping your devices safely isolated from theirs. It’s even possible to set up a dedicated office network, entirely separate from your family’s devices, while still paying for only one Internet connection.
If you have any questions about these or other advanced configurations, contact Green Mountain IT Solutions today at 802-489-6948, or email info@greenmtnitsolutions.com.
