Guest Wi-Fi Best Practices

While one might think that because they know or trust a guest they are allowing into their house, it is fine for them to be connected to their Wi-Fi. This is not a true statement.

Allowing anyone on your Wi-Fi where you conduct banking, personal matters, and work can be dangerous, as it can open a gateway for cyber threats. Their devices may unfortunately act as a Trojan Horse and allow bad actors to steal personal information or gain unauthorized access to your network.

What is Guest Wi-Fi
A guest network is set up similarly to your main network with a password and allows guests to use WiFi while they are visiting your residence. However, while your primary network will be connected to all of your devices that house personal information, the guest WiFi will only allow your guests to connect to the internet and nothing more.

Threats Guests Bring to a Network
While your guests are most likely not willingly going to compromise your devices and steal your information, they may be unknowingly bringing trouble to your home network. If one of your guests is unaware their device has been compromised with malware and they connect to your personal home network, this makes it and all devices connected to it vulnerable. Bad actors can commandeer these devices, and use them to try to steal your personal information, see your online activity, and gain unauthorized access to accounts.

Setting Up a Guest Network
By setting up a guest network, friends and family can enjoy the Wi-Fi while keeping your devices and network safe and secure. You can set up a guest Wi-Fi network by logging into the router via your IP address, which can be found on the label of your modem, on the box for the device, or in its manual. You would then log in as administrator and set up the guest Wi-Fi.

If you need help doing so, contact a security professional or the BlackCloak concierge team. Our staff will not only help you set up the guest network, but ensure that all of your Wi-fi networks are secure. When setting up a guest network, ensure the password you choose is complex and is different from the password for your primary home network. Naming conventions are easy. If your primary network is “WiFiNetwork”, simply make the other “WifiNetworkGuest".

Smart Devices on Networks
Smart Devices don't always have the best security measures, leaving them vulnerable to cybercriminals. It’s also a good idea to connect your smart devices to the guest Wi-Fi network by connecting them to guest networks. You cut them off from the devices that hold your sensitive information, so it cannot transfer the malware to a laptop or a smartphone if it’s on the guest network.

If you have any further questions or need assistance with anything discussed please contact a member of the BlackCloak team and we will be more than willing to help you.