Surely you have read it many times: we are worried that our neighbors will steal our WiFi network and one of the ways to avoid it is to hide the name of the network so that they cannot find it. Does this really make the network more secure and there are no intruders? It is not the best option you can use for a more secure network.
Hiding our Wi-Fi network can be a good option if we simply want a little more privacy, but it will not make it infallible against hackers if they want to steal from us or access the network. When we hide the name or the SSID what we do is that it will not appear in the available networks to which we can connect when we go to scan them from a computer or a mobile phone even though that network is there. But we have to enter the name manually, a name that supposedly only we or the people who connect to that network know, in order to connect using the corresponding password.
This can make it a bit more secure if you just want to hide when someone sees what’s there. But it will really give us a false sense of security because it is very easy to find it without having to be an expert in routers and even if you have it hidden and the name of the network does not appear in the list when you go to connect to one.
Not only can an expert hacker with sufficient knowledge easily find us and gain access, but there are also simple tools that do this automatically for any user, regardless of their knowledge of networks, such as Acrylic WiFi, which scans for wireless networks. and it also shows us the hidden options and not only the visible ones. A free program for non-commercial use that is capable of analyzing everything that happens around us in terms of networks and in a simple way.
Do we hide the network? You can do it if you want but it is not the definitive trick to protect yourself, unlike others that will improve security and privacy and that we will explain in the next paragraphs if you are worried about intruders on your WiFi.
Other tips to improve privacy
When it comes to protecting ourselves, there are other more interesting and useful values that can make us have greater security and privacy… For example, using strong and complex passwords with all kinds of characters such as uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks and other characters specials. It is also recommended that you use adequate encryption and use a router that does not use obsolete encryption such as WEP or WPA but more current ones such as WPA2.
Another fundamental piece of advice when it comes to protecting ourselves is to keep the firmware of the router updated to solve any possible vulnerability that is usually exploited by pirates or hackers to steal our data or our WiFi network.
Taking this into account and carefully using our devices, you will not need to hide the SSID of your wireless network and you will be much more protected.
