HBB Security

I frequently have people ask me how to 'secure' their home-based-business (HBB) networks from harm. In this day and age that is actually much easier than at any time before. There are several things you can do, even if you consider yourself to be "technically challenged", to protect yourself and the users on your home network from harm.

Firewall

The first line of defense is a good firewall. In security parlance we call this 'perimeter security'. I am still surprised when I find users connecting their PC directly to the cable or DSL modem provided by their ISP. There are several really good products available. I personally am not a big fan of software firewalls. Software firewalls include products like the Windows (XP/Vista/7) Firewall, Zone Alarm, etc. I am a big fan of hardware firewalls. The reason is simple. If your firewall is breached, with a software firewall they (hackers) are sitting right on your PC. With a hardware firewall, if it's breached they only sit on a hardened Linux-based OS (or a variant thereof).

I myself have always been a fan of Netgear products, not to say they're perfect. But Netgear represents my top line choice. TRENDnet is also a good choice. TRENDnet has been a recent add to the home firewall scene and their price points are lower, but their quality is still quite good. Linksys is OK, as is D-Link. But I have had interoperability issues with some of their newest products. They just don't play well with others (brands). Not to say they are bad, rather they are more difficult to set up and maintain than other brands (IMHO).

Here are some excellent HBB firewalls for varying needs and price ranges.

Netgear

WNDR-series - This is Netgear's top of the line, high performance wireless firewall platform.

FVS336G - This is my personal favorite wired firewall. Simple, easy, clientless SSL-VPN remote access.

FVS318G - This is Netgear's dependable workhorse wireless VPN firewall. VPN requires client software.

UTM-series - This is the ultimate top of the line firewall. May be overkill for a HBB.

TRENDnet

TEW-691GR - This is TRENDnet's top of the line, high performance wireless firewall platform.

TEW-673GRU - Excellent low-cost concurrent dual-band Wireless-N firewall.

TEW-652BRP - Inexpensive Wireless-N firewall. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware

The second line of defense is fairly simple ... install and maintain a good anti-virus / anti-spyware package. At present I have 3 packages I like a lot. For home users there are 2 free packages I recommend; Avast Free Edition (anti-virus), and Malwarebytes (anti-spyware). For business users I recommend NOD32 anti-virus / anti-spyware. Using these packages and keeping them up to date should prevent you from having to deal with viruses or spyware. Or if you do get infected, will alert you at once and contain the threat to prevent damage to the system and hopefully prevent data loss or identity theft as well.

E-mail

I also do not recommend you use the ISP's e-mail service. I strongly advocate using Google's Gmail for 3 very important reasons. First, it's free. Second, Google recently purchased Postini arguably the number one anti-spam service on the internet. And all your Gmail is Postini junk mail filtered (for free). Unfortunately it is not the full Postini anti-spam treatment (this requires you to use Google Apps Premiere Edition), but for free it's better than most. Lastly, Gmail has applications for many smartphones (such as BlackBerry, Android and iPhone) to allow you to receive and send Gmail right on your smartphone (for free). Also, if you want or need to use your own domain name, a web site, or shared calendar you can also use Google Apps Free Edition. Did I mention all this was free? Check it out.

OpenDNS

The next line of defense may come as a shock ... don't use the ISP's DNS settings. Instead I recommend using the free service OpenDNS (http://www.opendns.com/). By default it automatically protects you against most known spyware and virus worms. And if you take the time to set up an account and follow their posted instructions you can also use it as a way to prevent users on your network from accessing porn, illegal downloads, peer-to-peer sharing sites, etc. The thing I like about it the most is I make those changes in OpenDNS and they automatically extend to any and all "users" on my network, even if a friend brings a laptop onto my network. Check it out.

Summary

From my experience, user's who adopt these simple policies have a much more secure HBB network and find themselves free from many of the "risks" we read about in the press periodically. These steps are simple, easy to implement and help to make your home network a safe and secure place for your family to work and play.