Page 12 - aruba-today-20200909

A12 technology
Wednesday 9 september 2020
Bring in the experts: It's time to secure your home network

By FRANK BAJAK that can be a lot of work, It's beyond our capacity to gadgets. Parents can also "Most consumers don't
AP Technology Writer and the potential conse- constantly monitor all those often use these services to have the necessary know-
Not all that long ago, man- quences of any mistakes connections. We need set rules on the websites how as to how to secure
aging your home network's could be significant. For help. kids can visit and limits on their home network," says
security didn't involve much Michael Philpott, a con-
more than installing an an- nected-home analyst with
tivirus program on your PC. the Omedia tech research
If only it were still so simple. firm. "The only real option is
It's no longer just about pro- to have a central solution
tecting the computer on that can monitor all con-
which you may be working nected devices."
from home and the laptops Philpott says he's personally
the kids may be using as happy to pay a little extra
online school starts. Odds for the peace of mind.
are good you've got a few Start by checking out the
other internet-connected service provided by your
devices around the house broadband provider or the
-- phones, tablets, game maker of your router. Is the
consoles, maybe a "smart" software easy to set up and
TV or thermostat or refrig- to use? Check which secu-
erator or light bulb or kid's rity firm supplies the under-
toy or security camera or lying security tools; Bitde-
video-streaming gadget or fender, F-Secure, McAfee
voice-activated digital va- and Trend Micro are
let. among industry leaders.
The average U.S. home now It's also possible to buy net-
has 11 such devices, ac- work-security kits directly
cording to Deloitte, many from security companies,
of which are vulnerable to though you'll typically pay
hacking. If you don't want more for an extra monitor-
cyber cat burglars traips- ing device you'll add to
ing across them, potentially In this June 19, 2018, file photo a router and internet switch are displayed in East Derry, N.H. Not all your network. These often
spreading malware or ran- that long ago, managing your home network’s security didn’t involve much more than installing include anti-malware soft-
an antivirus program on your PC.
somware as they go, you'll Associated Press ware for computers and
want to secure your entire phones.
home network. Look for software that also
WHAT ARE THE RISKS? most people, it makes bet- A good network-security screen time. lets you create two sepa-
Home networks are a major ter sense to pay for a net- service sets up firewalls to HOW MUCH DOES THIS rate "virtual" home net-
target for cybercriminals, work-protection service, block unwanted data traf- COST? IS IT WORTH IT? works." Reserve one for
who use innocuous smart whether offered by your in- fic, but it doesn't stop there. Internet providers now work computers and net-
gadgets as stepping stones ternet provider or another Since firewalls are imper- frequently offer security worked data storage and
to loot data from PCs and business. Though it will cost fect, it will also monitor net- suites if you rent your mo- use the other for smart TVs
phones. Or they may co- you. work traffic using artificial dem or router from them. and speakers.
opt these simpler devices HOW DOES THIS WORK? intelligence to detect un- From Comcast, it costs $14 I'M NOT AFRAID OF TINKER-
into much larger "botnets" Think of your home network usual patterns. It keeps an a month. Verizon charges ING. WHAT CAN I DO MY-
that can be used to wreak as a bunch of cans tied eye on both your devices fiber-optic FiOS subscribers SELF?
havoc across the internet. to each other with strings. and malicious internet do- $25/month but provides it You're going to need to roll
On average, one in three Those are all your in-house mains, alerting you to po- for free with its premium up your sleeves and get ed-
internet connections from devices and the data they tential threats and blocking gigabit plan. ucated if you want to hard-
home networks are made share with each other. suspicious websites. If you recently bought your en your home network's
through devices other than Now picture each of those Typically, you'll be able to own router, security may security on your own. Even
computers or phones, so cans tied to thousands of configure your security and come as a free trial and then, if you do any kind of
there's lots of opportunity other strings outside your respond to alerts from a then a subscription. Or you sensitive work at home it
for mischief if you don't lock home. They are data con- laptop or phone. Providers can buy a separate service probably pays to shell out
your virtual windows to the nections your devices rou- let you block unauthorized or standalone security ap- for extra protection.
networked world. tinely make to other devic- users and websites from pliance. Figure on paying See the links below for basic
You can do it yourself, but es on the global internet. connecting to your home about $100 a year. details to get you started.q

Italy investigates Apple, Google, Dropbox over cloud storage

Italy's competition watchdog has launched into "vexatious clauses" in a contract. ately respond to requests for comment.
an investigation into Apple, Google and The regulator said it's looking into whether the The Italian probe follows wider efforts by Euro-
Dropbox over their cloud storage services. three companies either failed to, or did not ad- pean Union regulators to clarify the fine print
The competition and market authority said equately, indicate how users' data would be tech companies use in their terms and condi-
Monday it has opened a total of six investi- collected and used for commercial purposes. tions of service so consumers can better un-
gations into Apple iCloud, Google Drive and It is also examining whether Dropbox failed to derstand how their information is being used.
Dropbox's online storage service in response provide clear and accessible information on Facebook updated its terms of service last
to complaints about unfair commercial prac- how users could get out of contracts or pursue year to clarify how it makes money from user
tices and violations of the country's consumer out of court dispute settlements. data in response to pressure from European
rights directive. In one case, it's also looking Apple, Google, and Dropbox did not immedi- regulators.q