Closing the easy gaps

Most systems are broken into not through clever hacking, but through doors left open: default passwords, unused features switched on, and missing updates.

Secure configuration means setting systems up safely from the start:

• Change default passwords immediately (many devices ship with "admin" / "admin")
• Turn off features and accounts you do not use
• Only open the network connections you actually need

Updates matter just as much. When software makers find a weakness, they release a patch. Until you install it, you are exposed. Most large attacks use weaknesses that were already fixed, against people who had not updated.

Practice

Name one device or account that might still use a default or factory password, and plan to change it. Then turn on automatic updates somewhere you have not.