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Change Your Router’s Wi-Fi Name

September 7, 2022

When you install a Wi-Fi network, you immediately put yourself at risk. Because the connections are wireless, you don’t necessarily see the person or device accessing the network. How-To Geek has a post discussing whether you should change the default Wi-Fi name of your router. The short answer is YES. Depending on the manufacturer, the default name may expose the model and/or manufacturer of the router. That advanced information can help an attacker tailor the attack to specifically known vulnerabilities. It could also show that the router is really old and no longer getting any updates.

While you’re at it, you should update the router firmware to the latest version and pretty much change every default value and not just the Wi-Fi name. Change the password and ID used to manage and configure the router. Turn off some of those “convenience” features such as WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) and remote administration.

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