Background

As configured more routers on-site either in the office or home-office environment, we started to compile on how to harden the router for protection from hackers or attackers. Router hardening is an IT security term that essentially means locking it down for maximum security.

Solution

Many router brands are available in the market such as Netgear, TP-Link, Cisco, Ubiquity, etc. So we are not covering the procedure in detail. However, we give you some pointers about the solution.

Here is the setup:

Changing the Default Password

Go to your router via browser.

Find the setting for changing the password.

Change the password accordingly.

Keep the password saved and stored it in your password library.

Disable the Wireless Access Point

For corporate/business office setup, turn off this option. If you want to use the Wireless Access Point, it’s better to use a dedicated device such as TP-Link, Netgear, Ubiquity, etc.

Disable the WPS

For office-home setup, turn off this option.

Disable the UPnP

Go to your router via browser.

Find the setting for UPnP.

Ensure to disable this option.

Disable the Remote Admin

Go to your router via browser.

Find the setting Remote Admin.

Ensure to disable this option.

Disable the Client-to-Site VPN

For corporate/business office setup, turn off this option if you don’t use it.

Disable the Port Triggering

Go to your router via browser.

Find the setting for Port Triggering.

Ensure to disable this option.

Set the Firewall Rules

Some routers have a basic option such as High/Medium/Low/None/Custom.

Set to Medium option.

Test whether the connection is good or not, especially mail, web, and video conference.

Not Saving the Router Login Password

For convenience, the administrator usually saves the router login and password into the browser (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox).

If this happened, remove this password immediately from the default browser.

Check the other browsers as well.

Place Safe and Lock

For corporate/business office setup, put the router inside a server room or server rack that has a security lock.

The End

If you have reached the end of this article, congratulation. Hopefully, I have been able to shed some light on outlining what you need to know to harden router security.

I write this in such a way that this is not a fixed article. Like in this journey, I learn as I go and I re-write some parts of the article so please keep pinging with this article or any general tech posts.

I also would love to hear about how you deal with the situation and what IT-related challenges you might be facing. Please feel free to leave us a comment below this article or you can contact us on the Dewacorp website for your IT support, application integration, application development, or other IT-related. Alternatively, you can casually have a chat on Dewachat. Let us know if you have any questions that we can help with!

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