Have you seen the amusing screenshot image that shows where someone has used their wireless network name to moan about their neighbour’s loud music? The neighbours have then used theirs to highlight the bad grammar in the first network name… We spotted it again this week, and it made us laugh as much as it did the first time we saw it, but it also made us think about wi-fi network names, and how they might impact your network security.

Many people don’t bother to change their network name or password at all, which leaves your network vulnerable to hackers, but what about those who change the network name to something to do with their address or personal details?

It might sound rather silly, but many people do this, not least because it means friends or family who drop by and want to connect to their network can easily identify which network is the correct one. But if you make it too easy for hackers to figure out which network belongs to which property, they can then use social engineering to get your password and gain access to your network.

If someone is gaining access to your wi-fi network and hacks into your computer, anything they then access on the internet could be traced back to you. So ensure you call the network something that doesn’t connect it to your property, and make sure you change the network password to something that couldn’t easily be guessed by looking at your Facebook page!