Guarding Your Connected Life

Sean McCulloch |
Categories
Education

Guarding Your Connected Life

In our March 2025 newsletter, we shared a set of cybersecurity tips and practical ways to protect your household from common online threats. As we leave 2025 in the rear view, those threats continue to evolve – often in ways most families don’t see coming. Our goal is to, as much as we can, keep you informed, up to date, and equipped with the tools you need to stay safe in an increasingly connected world.

In April 2025, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its 2024 Internet Crime Report, which combines information from over 850,000 complaints of internet crime. The 2024 release reported over $16 billion in internet-crime-related losses, up 33% from 2023. 

The top three cyber crimes, by number of complaints reported in 2024, were phishing, extortion, and personal data breaches. Victims of investment fraud reported the most losses – totaling over $6.5 billion. 

Cybercrime continues to grow each year, and today’s threats go far beyond stolen passwords or suspicious emails. Families now rely on smart devices, cloud services, and connected home systems that introduce risks most people never consider. The good news is that a few quick adjustments can dramatically improve both digital and physical safety for you and your family.

The goal, however, is not to live in fear or feel like you’re constantly under attack. Instead, think of these steps like locking your doors at night – they simply make your household a less attractive target than the next one. Most criminals look for the easiest entry point; a handful of smart protections can move your family out of that “easy target” category.

Create Family Passphrases to Protect Against AI Voice Spoofs

With the rise of AI-driven voice replication, criminals can now create convincing imitations of a person’s voice using just a few seconds of audio from a social media post, voice messages, online videos, or simply just recording you talking to the cashier at Publix. These fake voices have been used to call family members, urgently request money, claim an emergency, or ask for sensitive information. The calls feel real because the voice sounds real.

A family passphrase is a simple way to shut down this threat.

What you can do:

  • Choose a word or short phrase your family would never use in normal conversation. Try to avoid using birthdays, pet names, or favorite sports teams (things that could likely be found on social media).

  • Agree that if anyone ever calls requesting money, gift cards, bank details, or personal information, they must use the passphrase.

  • Teach kids, teens, and older parents how and when to use it.

  • Remind everyone: if the passphrase isn’t used, hang up immediately and call the person back at their normal number.

This small step has already protected countless families from scams that feel incredibly personal and urgent in the moment.

Secure Smart Home Devices

Smart cameras, doorbells, voice assistants, baby monitors, thermostats, light switches, and even refrigerators are connected to the internet. Many ship with factory-set login credentials that are publicly listed online, meaning anyone with the model number can find them. Once inside, attackers can view camera feeds, adjust settings, or pivot into other devices on your network or accounts linked to those devices.

What you can do:

  • Change all default usernames and passwords immediately.

  • Create a separate guest Wi-Fi network just for smart devices.

  • Update device firmware at least twice a year.

  • Turn off features you don’t use, especially remote access and “always on” microphones.

Protect Your Home Router

Think of your Wi-Fi router as the front door to your entire digital home. If your front door is unlocked, an intruder could access every room, every device, and every personal item inside. Similarly, an insecure or outdated router gives criminals a direct path into your network – allowing them to intercept data, install malware, or take control of connected devices. Many households unknowingly leave this “front door” vulnerable simply because they never update the router or change default settings.

What you can do:

  • Rename your Wi-Fi network so that it doesn’t reveal the router brand or model. Many of the routers on the market today include a hidden backdoor that the manufacturer can use to assist you with Wi-Fi issues remotely. If a hacker knows the make and model, they may be able to exploit that same backdoor to gain unauthorized access to your network.

  • Ensure you’re using WPA2 or WPA3 security (never WEP).

  • Change the router admin password, not just the Wi-Fi password.

  • Restart it monthly to install quiet security patches.

Stop Location Tracking Through Photos and Posts

Every photo taken on a smartphone includes EXIF data that can reveal the exact GPS coordinates of where it was taken. Posting these photos publicly can expose where you live, where your children go to school, or that you’re away on vacation, even if the content of the photo doesn’t. Criminals increasingly monitor social media for these cues.

What you can do:

  • Disable location tagging for the camera app.

  • Avoid posting in real time when traveling.

  • Keep your friends list tight and profiles private.

  • Review what your children post on platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram.

Be Careful of Fake Public Wi-Fi Networks

Hackers regularly set up “Evil Twin” Wi-Fi networks in airports, hotels, coffee shops, etc. These are networks that look identical to the real one and are oftentimes not password protected to entice you to use them. Once connected, everything you do can be monitored, including passwords and emails. Even legitimate public Wi-Fi can expose your activity if it’s not encrypted. That’s why experts recommend never accessing sensitive sites like your bank accounts, investments, or medical sites like MyChart on public Wi-Fi, regardless of whether it is verified or not.

An immediate red flag should be if you see two Wi-Fi networks that appear identical, as seen below. In that instance, it may be best to avoid using the Wi-Fi altogether, but if you absolutely have to, divert to the password-protected network – many establishments will have the password posted somewhere inside.

What you can do:

  • Never access financial accounts on public Wi-Fi.

  • Use your phone’s hotspot for important tasks.

  • Keep the auto-connect feature on your phone and computer off.

  • If you must use public Wi-Fi, use a VPN to protect your browsing data.

Protect Kids in Games and Apps

Online games and apps often include chat features that allow players to communicate via text or voice. While these can be a fun way for your kids to connect and play with their friends, they also create opportunities for strangers – including adults – to contact children.

Platforms like Roblox have recently highlighted risks where children may be approached through voice chat, sometimes in ways that feel convincing or personal. Many apps also collect more data than parents realize, including location, contact lists, and browsing habits. Without proper settings, kids can unintentionally share personal information that puts them at risk.

What you can do:

  • Review privacy settings for each game or app. Make sure sharing, friend requests, and communication features are turned off or limited to known friends.

  • Disable voice or text chat unless necessary. If your child doesn’t need chat features, turn them off.

  • Move the conversation outside of the game. Have your child call or FaceTime their friends while they play, rather than doing so inside the game. This prevents anyone unknown from being able to join the conversation, as is often allowed in online games.

Clean Up Old Cloud Storage Accounts

Many households have years’ worth of personal documents stored in old cloud accounts: tax returns, driver’s license scans, bank statements, medical records, and more. If you’re like most people and created these accounts years ago when cybersecurity wasn’t as big of a conversation as it is today, your password may still be something like “password123”. If these accounts use weak or repeated passwords, they can be a goldmine for identity theft.

What you can do:

  • Turn on two-factor authentication.

  • Review old folders, delete unnecessary files, and consolidate everything to a singular, safe place.

  • Store sensitive documents in encrypted folders or password-protected files.

  • Use a password manager to generate secure, unique passwords.

Bonus Tip: Keep Your Analog, Analog

Trust us, we understand that there is something to be said about the convenience of living in a connected world, but not everything in your home needs to be connected to the internet or digitalized. In 2023, Liberty Safes made headlines when the FBI obtained a warrant to access reset codes for certain digital safes. While Liberty Safes did nothing wrong, and the FBI would have gotten into the safes with or without the codes, the story reminded many people that even the devices we assume are “most secure” can have vulnerabilities once they become digital.

The principle is simple: if a device or system doesn’t need to be online, don’t make it digital. Physical safes with traditional locks, paper copies of critical documents stored securely, and offline backups of photos or family records remain much harder for criminals to compromise. Other examples may include:

  • Home security or alarm systems that rely on local control rather than cloud monitoring.

  • Analog photo albums or journals for family memories instead of storing everything on a cloud service.

  • Offline password vaults or encrypted USB drives for sensitive documents.

  • Mechanical timers for lights instead of Wi-Fi-connected smart plugs.

Keeping some protections purely analog doesn’t replace your digital security measures – it complements them. By maintaining a few systems outside the digital ecosystem, you create natural “air gaps” that hackers, AI spoofers, and other cybercriminals simply can’t reach.

Final Thoughts

Staying safe in today’s connected world doesn’t mean living in fear or giving up the conveniences of modern technology. Instead, it’s about taking thoughtful, practical steps that make your family less attractive to hackers, scammers, and other cyber threats. By combining strong digital habits, smart device protections, family passphrases, and even a few purely analog safeguards, you can enjoy the benefits of technology while significantly reducing your risk. The small investments you make today – checking settings, updating passwords, reviewing privacy controls, or keeping some things offline – pay off all year long in peace of mind and security for your household.