(VitalNews.org) – Experts in cyber-security have shared their latest tip to help ordinary people save themselves from scammers: create a guest Wi-Fi network. This relatively simple precaution is recommended for both businesses and for individuals who have Wi-Fi in their home.
While allowing a welcome guest, or perhaps a potential customer to a business, use the usual Wi-Fi network to connect to the internet on their own devices may seem like a polite and harmless gesture, experts have warned that it could open the host up to a multitude of cyber-threats.
One issue is that a guest may not be as trustworthy as hoped and may use their host’s Wi-Fi in order to gain information they otherwise would not have. Another, possibly more likely issue, however, is that while a person’s guest may not wish to cause any harm, they themselves may have already been hacked. It is possible for a person to have their own security and devices compromised without ever realizing it. If that is the case, then a hacker who has broken past the guest’s device security may be able to continue their nefarious activity on the host’s Wi-Fi. This means that the host may find themselves hacked.
This can take many forms. A cyber-criminal could simply want to use the host’s Wi-Fi in order to avoid paying for their own, which could slow down the host’s connection and make using their own Wi-Fi more difficult. On a more advanced level, a criminal could glean a great deal of data from an unencrypted Wi-Fi connection, according to expert Aranza Trevino, of Keeper Security. The private information the criminal steals could be enough for them to commit identity fraud, including ordering a credit card in the host’s name and never paying it off, which could ruin the victim’s credit score completely. The criminal could also steal money directly from the victim’s bank account, or even frame them for crimes committed by the thief.
To prevent any such problems arising, experts recommend setting up a separate Wi-Fi network for guests which can be shut down in case of any issues. To do this, all the host needs to do is log onto their router page by entering its logon URL or its IP address, usually found on the back of the router, into a web browser. They can then find the network settings option and create a guest network with its own password.
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