Here are tips from the industry group Wi-Fi Alliance on how to keep your data private and your home network creep-free.
• Turn on the security that comes with your home router. Any Wi-Fi router bought in the past six years includes security technology called Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2, or WPA2, which keeps information private and secure by strongly encrypting it while it travels. But you have to turn on WPA2 to benefit. Make sure you’re using WPA2, and not WPA, and certainly not the 11-year-old WEP, which was broken by hackers long ago.
• Set up a strong network password. Wi-Fi Alliance recommends using a password that’s at least eight characters long and includes a mixture of upper-case and lower-case letters, along with a couple of symbols or numbers.
• When using a Wi-Fi network, make sure that sensitive websites you use encrypt your data. Encryption is occurring if you see “https” in the address bar and almost universally occurs when you make a purchase on a shopping site, bank online or log into a Web-based e-mail service.
The Associated Press
