Following Ubiquiti’s security incident and its subsequent recommendation to change your router password and enable multi-factor authentication, and the fact that it is widely reported that using default passwords on routers while working from home is a security risk, we thought it would be helpful to remind you to change your router password sooner rather than later.

Security experts have warned us for years that our wireless routers are an easy gateway for hackers to get into our systems, and that the manufacturer’s default passwords on routers are freely accessible on the Internet. Therefore, it is important to change your router’s password to a unique security password from the default password when you set up your router.

To assist, Lifewire has a tutorial that is easy to follow and can be accessed here.

Please note Lifewire’s caution of not using the same password for your router as you do for your WiFi. They should be separate and distinct from each other. Limiting access to your WiFi is also important for data security.

While it looks like the work from-home model will continue, implementing these security measures is important for the protection of our data on both personal and professional levels.

Photo of Linn Foster Freedman Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her…

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chairs the firm’s Data Privacy and Security and Artificial Intelligence Teams. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.