Reasons Network Security is a Prerequisite in Today’s Times

Network security these days is a prerequisite for homes, offices, organizations, and all kinds of forums that use the internet to function. These days, most people work on the internet and have a lot of their data uploaded on cloud-based platforms. In this case, network security protects your data and network from unauthorized access, modification, or misuse.

This way, only authorized users can access the network resources, and all malicious sources outside your network are blocked. So, if the network is secure, hackers can’t carry out threats and exploits.

First Things First, Why Do Such Attacks Happen?

The web world has evolved over the years, but with it, cybercriminals have also evolved. Every other day there is a new way for hackers and cybercriminals to attack organizations, individuals, and companies. There are plenty of reasons why a hacker can attack a certain group or a person. Stealing one’s identity, data, bank information, an organization’s secret information, or hacking solely due to political differences are some reasons.

Now, you must be thinking about why and how will someone attack an individual who might not be that significant. One example is children. You must be thinking how can children be beneficial for a hacker? Children’s credit history is the cleanest and identity stealers can use a child’s Social Security number to commit fraud. They can open bank and credit card accounts with this number, take out loans, or apply for employment, which is what makes network security important even for homes.

Why Network Security is Essential?

We often believe that only government organizations and companies can be at the most risk of cyberattacks, but in reality, we all are. There are plenty of different reasons that prove that in today’s era network security is a prerequisite of life. Read on to find out the reasons to secure your home’s network if it is not already.

• Secures Your Smart Home

These days almost every household in the US uses some kind of smart home gadgets and devices, most of which are smart home security systems. Most of the time, while choosing an internet service our focus is mainly on the speed and integration of the internet. While these two are necessary for you to run your smart home, what you don’t realize is that if your in-home WiFi network is not secure it can put all your home’s devices at risk.

For instance, if unfortunately your in-home WiFi is not private and secured, a hacker can hack into your devices and the phone that you manage your devices from. After hacking that, they can disarm your smart home security, switch off all alarms and security cameras, and put you at risk for burglaries and break-ins. People, especially cybercriminals are so ahead of us these days that they can also set a false alarm to make you disarm your system yourself so that they can get a window to sneak in.

So, if you have a smart home, and no network security, you need to rethink your priorities and decisions.

• All Devices on the Network Stay Secure

With network security, all the devices on your network stay secure. For instance, if you have a strong, private, and secure in-home WiFi network it even secures the devices that don’t have displays. The advanced security systems of some WiFi devices detect threats in real-time, send alerts, and if there is a more serious breach your system immediately isolates the device at risk and does not include it back in the network until it is free of that specific threat.

So, having complete network security is more effective than having an antivirus only on your mobile phone. While an anti-virus separately does add an extra layer of security, having your in-home WiFi network security is essential.

• Secures You from Data Theft

Some Network Security systems use firewalls, encryption, and access control methods to help you keep your data secure. Data theft mostly happens on workplace servers or organizations, but it also happens on home networks. Your personal information is always at risk of being stolen. Or if you work from home or own a home-based business, you can become a victim of data breaches. The reasons to hack could be anything such as wanting to sabotage the business by a competitor or simply gain confidential information.

Well, with high-quality anti-virus and some level of network privacy, you can eliminate the risks of having your data stolen.

• Save You From Identity theft

As we discussed above, we compromise our identity on the internet in so many ways. The most vulnerable to identity theft are children because of their clean history in terms of credit scores. Hackers steal young children’s identities and sell them on the dark web where people buy them to use their Social Security numbers for fraudulent activities, get loans, and open credit accounts and bank accounts.

Besides child identity theft, there are several other kinds such as medical identity theft, tax fraud, and more. This way, if you have photos of your identity card, passport, or even debit cards, hackers get their hands on these and sell them on the dark web to profit off your identity. Well, if not completely, you can protect yourself as well as your family members from these breaches by implementing in-home network security and by avoiding public WiFi networks.

• Saves from Viruses, Phishing Attempts, and Vulnerable Sites

While nothing can completely save you from clever phishing attempts besides your instinct, network security and keeping a safe search can eliminate the risks to a great extent. Well, viruses, phishing attempts, and third-party apps can be super harmful to your network. Accessing these sites, apps, and phishing emails can help hackers easily enter your device and then your network. How network security helps in this case, is by keeping safe search turned on, encryption, identifying phishing attempts, and sending alerts.

So, with network security, you can avoid such attempts to a great extent. Safe search and encryption are important for not only you but also for kids at home. We understand how a specific person like a child might be less aware, so it is best to keep your overall network secure. In addition, many internet service providers offer parental controls along with their completely secured in-home WiFi modems.

• Saves From Spyware

Spyware is malicious software that hackers install in your computers and personal internet-powered devices to spy on you. This way, hackers follow your activity and check your personal information. It is one of the most widespread and oldest forms of cyber threats on the internet. By doing this hackers intend to carry out various illegal activities, such as identity theft and data theft.

Hackers can use spyware to sneak into your systems, but then as we discussed, the best way to get rid of this is by implementing network security and turning safe search on.

• Saves From Reputational Harm and Ransomware

Well, all of these attacks and cyber crimes have very thin lines between them and are mostly interconnected. As we discussed, by not implementing internet security you can fall prey to spyware. This can put you at great risk of reputational harm. If you are someone with a great reputation and influence people, chances are there are people on a mission to sabotage that reputation of yours. In that case, these people use forms of spyware and ransomware to break into your personal devices and gain some confidential information. Some hackers do this just for the sake of ransom and some use it to sabotage your character.

These sneaky attacks are the most dangerous because without network security you never know how long these viruses and spyware may be sitting in your computers and phones. Well, with proper network security, you can save yourself from such inconveniences.

Ways to Secure Your Network

Moving on, you must be thinking about the best ways to ensure network security. Here are some of the preventive measures you can take.

Don’t Connect to Open WiFi Networks

First of all, often when we are on the go, we need internet in the café, in a museum, or a mall to update our Instagram, to enjoy some kind of discount, or to make a transaction online. Connecting to an unsecured public network in itself is a blunder, but the bigger blunder would be making an online transaction. Public networks are considered hacking hubs, and this is a blunder not only because it allows a hacker to tap into your phone, but also because it gives away your bank account information.

Secondly, allowing a hacker or outside network into your phone means also putting your private network at risk because then your exposed phone will not be a gateway for the hacker to hack and access your network leading to bigger blunders. So, never connect to unsecured public networks, because it is like walking as a human into a cannibal’s land.

Avoid Phishing Emails, Third Party Apps, and Third Party Websites

Mostly our safe search tells us that the website we are visiting is not secure, yet we visit it because it is the necessity of the moment. A good approach is to not do that because accessing third-party websites, duplicate or third-party apps, or phishing emails can attract a hacker or viruses. These websites, emails, and apps are called third-party for a reason. They are unauthentic and blocked. The way to identify these is easy.

When visiting a website, your safe search will alert you. When downloading an app and it looks identical, read the reviews or only download apps that you know are authentic. Apart from that, phishing emails and messages are super tempting. They will claim major discounts or major offers that seem impossible to ignore. Follow your instinct and know when something seems unreal, it IS unreal. By avoiding unauthentic emails, messages, offers, apps, and websites, you can save your network.

Subscribe to a Safe & Reliable Internet Service

Moving to the most important point, the best way to ensure network security is by subscribing to an internet plan that offers complete in-home network security and privacy. Several internet service providers on BuyTVInternetPhone offer high-level security.

One such internet service is CenturyLink. Some of the best things about CenturyLink are its fiber internet plans, affordability, security,  and of course speed. All CenturyLink internet plans come with CenturyLink Security by McAfee. It keeps your network secure from emerging cyber threats. The system warns you when you visit a malicious site and secures all your smart devices including the ones without displays. Besides the network security, you also get built-in parental controls and you can manage the devices on your network with the My CenturyLink app.

So, if you are looking for high-speed internet plans along with network security, check out CenturyLink internet deals and keep your network integrated and secure.

In Conclusion

We hope this blog proves useful for you. Often due to a lack of awareness regarding network security, we make trivial insignificant mistakes that put us at great risk. Understanding the risks attached to unsecured networks is important in today’s times. So, make yourself aware and start implementing these network security measures in your daily routine to keep yourself and your loved ones secure on the web.