We tend to be blase about the security of our home networks, and to be frank I never gave it much thought until I read the news about zombie botnets and how they can be used for DDoS attacks. A Distributed Denial of Service cyber attack happens when an online server suddenly gets a flood of request that exceeds its capacity to cope, causing the service to slow down, and the ‘flood’ is usually generated by hundreds of thousands of seperate IP address, which makes blocking the attack very difficult.
In the past hackers who create these attacks would infiltrate PCs with malicious code and a little program that caused each PC to activate and send those requests at a specific date and time, but in recent years, while people have been a bit more attentive with their PC security, they haven’t really done the same with their IoT devices, so these devices have become more targeted – yes, a connected toaster can get hacked and used for a malicious ‘bot attack.
There are various ways that you can further ensure the security of your home network, and one of them is to use the Trend Micro Home Network Security system. Trend Micro are a well known internet security company well regarded for their antivirus products, and this product combines their software security with a hardware product – a small black box that you connect to your main router with an internet cable. Once turned on the black box will scan your home network, detect the number of devices you have connected, including Smart speakers, and protect them.
The Trend Micro Home Security system cost $299 with a two-year subscription, and after that the service will cost an additional $99 a year. Monitoring the system is via a companion Home Network Security App which will send you alerts when it detects any suspicious activity. The service links to Trend Micro’s systems so you’ll always have the latest protection. Access a website that is listed as malicious on your PC and the service will automatically block you, and it during my review it even warned me that it was blocking my router from connecting to a suspicious site once a night at about 2am, which gave me a bit of a scare! For parents the system has a pretty comprehensive parental control feature that lets you create individual profiles and set limits to each child.
The Trend Micro Home Security black box comes with its own processor so it shouldn’t slow your network speed. Note that it is does not have antivirus, which is a separate product.
Verdict
Rating: 4.5/5
$299 (with 2 year subscription)
The Trend Micro Home Security system is a useful whole-home solution for users of older, more vulnerable WiFi routers to protect them from intrusions and web threats.
