New Year, New Devices: The Password Updates Your Home Needs for Protection

Even the handiest smart home device needs a strong password to keep it protected -- but when we're setting up a new video doorbell or thermostat, login passwords aren't always a priority. That's why I suggest taking a brief space in the new year to open your apps and check your home security practices . Not sure where to begin? These password steps are the ideal place to start when you're looking for issues or pinpointing psswords that really need to be changed. Read more : New Reports Say Smart Device Cyberattacks More Than Doubled In 2024: Should You Worry? Upgrade lazy passwords for new devices The login screen for the Tapo smart home app. Many people received new smart home gadgets for the holidays or various new year's resolutions ( like fitness tech ). I know from personal experience that when trying to set up your new device, it's easy to just choose a quick, simple-to-remember password for your account and move on. You may even promise yourself that you'll change it later. That rarely happens. Now is the perfect time to review the smart home devices that you've got in the past year and make sure that each app and account you sign up for has a strong password. This is a key line of defense for every device in your home and you don't want new devices to be vulnerable, especially if you recently got a security cam or something similar. If you didn't turn on available two-factor authentication options for your login, now is also the time to enable this important security feature. Replace old passwords with more complex versions Complex passwords are a must in today's digital landscape. While home hacking is very rare , it's more common (unfortunately) for devices to be invaded by roommates, family or exes who already know your old passwords or can guess them. And if a cybercriminal ever does try to hack into your home, they're likely to start with brute force methods of finding more basic passwords. Fix this problem by checking of all your older passwords, especially those you haven't thought much about in years. Replace old and simplistic passwords with complex versions that are well protected (no sticky notes on the computer, in other words). Bring the family together and hold the big password-updating event together if necessary. Remember, good passwords combine upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Don't give into the temptation to use one of the most common and weakest passwords like "123456" or, yes, even "password." Create a robust Wi-Fi password TP-Link's router. Your Wi-Fi network is the gateway to most of your smart home and home security technology and one of the easiest ways for someone to digitally sneak inside. Prioritize giving your Wi-Fi network a particularly robust password that's difficult to guess or copy. If you frequently have people over, create a guest Wi-Fi network with a password that you can share with them. Oh, and if you haven't...

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