In a normal household today, you’ll find a WiFi network with loads of computers, tablets, and phones connected to it. In more than half those homes, you’ll find something else on the network, too. It might be a camera to help homeowners keep an eye on things, a smart thermostat to help energy bills stay low, or a smart TV connected to the web for easy streaming. These Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets get more common every day, with the average American household boasting 21 devices connected to their WiFi network.
While smart devices add tons of value and convenience to your home, they come with a few risks. One third of homes with smart devices reported that they were victimized by a data breach or scam in the previous twelve months. And IoT devices are targeted by thousands of attacks from hackers every week, according to a recent study. We’re helping security-minded consumers defend their home from this growing threat sector with ASUS AiProtection Pro. With AiProtection Pro enabled on your ASUS router, you add a layer of security to all your WiFi-connected devices. AiProtection also monitors traffic across your entire network, looking for suspicious activity from would-be invaders. By activating the AiProtection Pro features through the ASUS Router app on your phone, you’ll enjoy greater peace of mind and several added conveniences to make life easier for you and the whole family.
Smart devices need smart protection
Security-minded tech users traditionally install antivirus software on their laptops and tablets. These programs protect your devices by scanning and blocking malicious files or websites before the malware can wreak havoc. But few of us think about our smart TVs, phones, or game consoles in the same way. Smart devices are almost never treated to any form of protection from malware or attack.
Instead, consumers usually install their smart thermostat or camera, connect it to the home’s main WiFi network, and let the device run. This setup can create confusion and inconvenience in all kinds of ways. First, with many IoT gadgets running on the main network, there can be competition for bandwidth when your family boots up their laptops, tablets, phones, and gaming consoles. Since IoT devices run automatically, they can start to make demands for bandwidth and slow down your higher-priority devices. Also, when you run IoT devices on your main network, anyone who has ever logged into your WiFi will potentially have access to your smart TV, appliances, or cameras any time they reconnect.
Finally, a lot of IoT devices never receive security upgrades. It can be difficult or impossible to update the firmware of IoT devices. The lack of upgrades and updates makes the smart devices on your network more vulnerable as time goes by.
ASUS AiProtection Pro gives you added security at the router itself. That means every device connected to your router will be guarded by AiProtection Pro. But this feature is not intended to be a replacement for your antivirus software. It’s a second layer of defense, like a new member of your security team.
Think of your traditional antivirus program as a bodyguard for the device it’s installed on. With antivirus software loaded on your PC, the bodyguard watches out for malicious activity and shuts it down. And if a bad actor does threaten your PC, the bodyguard hunts them down and eliminates them. It’s an effective approach for securing devices one at a time.
With AiProtection Pro, you add a bouncer to the team. The bouncer stands at the front entrance to your network and keeps an eye on everyone passing in and out. If anyone who is trying to come inside looks suspicious, the bouncer blocks the entrance and sends them back. And if devices on your network start acting strangely, the bouncer pulls them aside and prevents them from doing anything foolish. Thanks to their teamwork, if the antivirus bodyguard fails to recognize a new or novel threat, your AiProtection Pro bouncer might catch and contain it, preventing potential damage.
AiProtection Pro gives your home network dual-layer defense
Imagine a typical evening when everyone in the family is busy with laptops, smartphones, and tablets. The household WiFi is also connected to several smart home devices. At any moment, a child could accidentally tap a malicious link on their tablet, or a smart camera might be probed by an unauthorized scan. With ASUS AiProtection Pro, neither of these threats is an issue.
With AiProtection Pro, you have a barrier of defense against accidentally clicking the wrong link. Like any good bouncer, AiProtection keeps a list of bad actors who are not allowed on the premises. It’s a regularly updated catalogue of URLs for websites known to threaten or scam their users. Some of them mimic legitimate websites, then lure people to click their links and download malware. ASUS AiProtection Pro automatically blocks these malicious files and the sites that distribute them, safeguarding every device from malware infections. This feature prevents common cyber-threats like a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack or ransomware scam.
Hackers who try to exploit your IoT devices will have a hard time, too. AiProtection Pro comes with two-way intrusion prevention, which monitors both inbound and outbound traffic at the edge of your network. Unauthorized incoming scans of your smart devices are detected and prevented. Even if an attacker somehow gets through and a device on your network becomes compromised, AiProtection Pro will stop it from sending your sensitive data to the attacker.
But AiProtection Pro doesn’t just monitor inbound and outbound traffic. It also scans devices across your network in search of unusual or suspicious behavior. If a device is flagged by one of these scans, AiProtection will isolate the device from the rest of the network. With infected devices safely quarantined, malware can’t spread. These scans run automatically in the background, like a bouncer who stays constantly alert so you can relax.
There’s an ASUS router with AiProtection Pro to fit every household
AiProtection comes preloaded on the latest ASUS WiFi 7 routers and mesh WiFi systems to give you better ways to manage your smart household. With a wide range of available options, there is a package of routers right for any-sized household, from apartments to the largest homes.
Folks who live in a building with loads of other people will appreciate our ZenWiFi BD4. This powerful router comes in a budget-friendly 1-pack, which will get you started with dual-band WiFi 7 at speeds up to 3600 Mbps. The ZenWiFi BD4 boasts four internal antennas and four high-power front-end modules that will eliminate dead zones. Your camera will maintain coverage even when it’s positioned at a window near the edge of your home. And if your household expands in the future, you can easily add one or two more ZenWiFi BD4 routers to create a mesh WiFi network, providing coverage up to 6500 sq. Ft.
Some households prioritize stability and speed as much as security. For them, the ASUS RT-BE86U offers up Ultrahigh-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity through a standard 10G WAN/LAN port. You’ll enjoy supreme wired network capacity up to 20G. And with up to five available SSIDs, you’ll free yourself from the risks and hassles associated with running your whole network on a single Service Set Identifier. Multiple SSIDs unlock a set of new conveniences that make WiFi networking clean and simple.
If you run your WiFi network on a single SSID, you open yourself to a few risks and hassles. For starters, you have to give your password to every family member, friend, and house guest who logs into your WiFi. Hopefully, that’s not a password you use elsewhere. And if you use a VPN for secure, private browsing, setting up your router as a VPN client means that every device in your household has to connect to that VPN as well.
On the other hand, when you use your ASUS RT-BE86U to establish multiple SSIDs, you can designate one subnetwork for your guests and give it a unique password. Configure another SSID for VPN connections, and whenever you want a device to connect through your VPN, all you have to do is switch to its subnetwork. Every other device in your home will stay connected as usual.
And if speed and stability are important in your household, you’ll want to assign an SSID for all your IoT gadgets. The extra security of AiProtection will monitor this SSID around the clock to keep your smart devices safe. As an added benefit, you’ll enjoy some performance gains for your higher-priority devices. The Smart Home Master feature lets you limit which bands can be accessed by each SSID, making it easy to limit your IoT network to the 2.4GHz band. That way, you can ensure low-interference, higher-speed 5GHz connections for your laptops and smartphones.
For large homes with big families, the ASUS ZenWiFi BT6 offers the tri-band WiFi 7 tech and wall-to-wall coverage. This two-pack of mesh routers covers up to 5800 sq. ft., with easy options for expanding coverage as needed. And with its seven internal antennas and eight high-power front-end modules, dead zones will be a thing of the past. With three bands available for WiFi frequencies, you’ll get blazing-fast speeds of 9.4 Gbps and Smart Home Mesh networking that never drops a signal. The ZenWiFi BT6 optimizes your home’s network for smoother 8k streaming, HDR gaming, and enhanced AI networking.
The ZenWiFi BT6 also provides the SSID configurations options you need. There’s a network for your IoT devices and another for your VPN. To keep your children safe from harmful internet content, assign an SSID just for them. You’ll enjoy easy control over their internet access, all without the hassle of setting up parental controls for each individual device. Just connect your children’s devices to the kids’ network, and ASUS Smart Home Master helps you guarantee safe connections and enforce reasonable screentime limits. You can monitor their online activity through a convenient Internet Activity Dashboard. And if you have children of different ages, you can easily establish a variety of profiles for different maturity levels.
Use AiProtection Pro effectively to maximize your network’s security
ASUS AiProtection Pro gives your home WiFi network optimum security. To make the most of this feature, log into your router’s web interface or use the ASUS Router App. There, you can activate malicious site blocking to prevent your friends and family from accidentally downloading malware or falling victim to scammers. Next, turn on two-way intrusion prevention to keep your network secure from the growing threat of infiltrators and scammers. You won’t have to worry about hackers seeking to exploit your IoT devices’ vulnerabilities. Then activate Security Scan to identify any potential security issues with your router, network settings, or file sharing settings.
ASUS will issue periodic firmware updates, many of which include security enhancements and compatibility improvements. So be sure to update your router’s firmware regularly to make the most of AiProtection. And even with this robust set of features enabled, you should always use strong WiFi encryption (WPA2 or WPA3) and unique, complex passwords for all your SSIDs, along with another unique password for your router’s admin access.
Finally, be sure to use AiProtection as an addition to your antivirus software, not a replacement. Your home deserves a security team that never rests. You’ll have antivirus acting as a bodyguard for each device, so if any malware is downloaded or transferred to that device via USB, your bodyguard will detect and remove the threat.
For “headless” devices like smart appliances and IoT hardware, you’ll have AiProtection guarding the door. With this bouncer on duty, your router will detect suspicious content before any is downloaded, blocking harmful websites from entering the premises. And if a smart device does become infected, AiProtection will isolate it from the rest of the network to prevent the infection from spreading. This dual-layer defense is your best bet for comprehensive, network-wide protection in a rapidly evolving threat environment.