$16.6B
Lost to cybercrime in 2024
FBI Internet Crime Report (April 2025)HardEdge Security
Protecting Homes & Families Online
Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Guidance for Your Household
Your home network connects your family's devices, data, and digital lives. With cyber threats growing more sophisticated every year, understanding what actually protects you—versus what's just marketing—has never been more important. We cut through the noise with guidance based on what federal security agencies and independent researchers actually recommend.
Takes 5 minutes • Based on federal agency guidance • No account required
Understanding Today's Threat Landscape
Cybercrime reached record levels in 2024. But the solution isn't fear—it's understanding which protections actually work. Here's what the data shows:
99.9%
Of automated attacks blocked by multi-factor authentication
Microsoft Security Research68%
Of data breaches involve human error or social engineering
Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 202478%
Of people reuse passwords across multiple accounts
Security.org Research$4.9B
Lost by adults 60+ to cybercrime in 2024
FBI Internet Crime Report (April 2025)43%
Of cyber attacks target small businesses
Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report21
Average number of connected devices in American homes
Deloitte Connectivity & Mobile Trends Survey$165K
Average cost of a cyber incident for small businesses
Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2024The encouraging news: the most effective protections are free or low-cost. The challenge is knowing which ones matter most for your situation.
The Four Foundational Protections
These four actions have near-universal endorsement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They address the attack methods behind most consumer harm—and they're free or nearly free.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication—often called MFA or two-factor authentication—adds a second verification step when you sign in to an account. After entering your password, you confirm your identity with a code sent to your phone or generated by an authenticator app.
Why it matters: Even if someone steals your password through a data breach or phishing attack, they can't access your account without that second factor. Microsoft's security research found MFA blocks 99.9% of automated account compromise attempts.
Where to enable it first: Start with your primary email account—it's the master key to everything else since password reset links go there. Then add MFA to banking, financial accounts, and social media.
Password Manager
A password manager creates, stores, and automatically fills strong, unique passwords for every account you have. You only need to remember one master password.
Why it matters: The average person manages over 100 online accounts. Research shows 78% of people reuse passwords because remembering unique ones is humanly impossible. When one service gets breached—and breaches happen constantly—attackers try those stolen passwords on other sites.
Both CISA and NIST explicitly recommend password managers. Their guidance states: "For most people, generating and remembering long, random and unique passwords for every account is not possible." Studies show password manager users experience nearly half the rate of credential theft.
Automatic Software Updates
Enabling automatic updates ensures your operating system, web browser, and applications install security patches as soon as they're available.
Why it matters: Software vulnerabilities are doorways for attackers. When security researchers discover a flaw, vendors release patches—but those patches only protect you if you install them. Analysis shows nearly 60% of breaches exploit known vulnerabilities that patches would have prevented.
The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report documented a 180% increase in vulnerability exploitation as an attack method in 2024. Automatic updates remove the human delay.
Credit Freeze
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report, preventing anyone—including identity thieves—from opening new accounts in your name.
Why it matters: The FTC calls credit freezes "the best protection against an identity thief opening new accounts in your name." Unlike credit monitoring, which alerts you after fraud occurs, a freeze actually prevents the fraud from happening.
Since 2018, federal law requires all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to provide free freezes that you can place or lift within one business day. A freeze doesn't affect your credit score or prevent you from using existing accounts.
Essential Protections That Need Context
These three protections are absolutely critical for home cybersecurity. They're listed separately not because they're optional, but because they're frequently misrepresented by marketing or misunderstood by consumers. Here's what you actually need to know.
Data Backups: Your Recovery Lifeline
Regular backups are your only reliable protection against ransomware, hardware failure, and accidental deletion. If your files are held hostage or your hard drive dies, backups let you recover without paying criminals or losing irreplaceable photos and documents.
The standard recommendation: Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule—keep three copies of important data, on two different types of storage, with one copy stored offsite (like cloud backup). CISA warns that "recovery without backups can take weeks or even months, and it may be impossible."
What to back up: Family photos, important documents, financial records, and anything you couldn't recreate. Most cloud services (iCloud, Google One, OneDrive) can automate this entirely.
Why this is non-negotiable: No security product can guarantee you won't get hit by ransomware. Backups ensure you can recover without paying.
Router and Network Security: Your Digital Front Door
Your router is the gateway between your home network and the internet. Every device in your home—phones, laptops, smart TVs, security cameras—connects through it. FBI and CISA report that routers account for 75% of all IoT device infections because compromising the router can compromise everything behind it.
Essential router security steps:
- Change the default admin password (not just the WiFi password—the router's admin login)
- Change the default network name (SSID) so it doesn't broadcast your router model
- Enable automatic firmware updates if available, or check quarterly
- Use WPA3 encryption if your router supports it; WPA2 at minimum
- Set up a guest network for visitors and IoT devices
Advanced protection - Hardware firewalls: For households with significant smart home devices, remote workers handling sensitive data, or anyone wanting comprehensive network visibility, a dedicated hardware firewall (like Firewalla) provides an additional security layer. These devices monitor all network traffic, can isolate IoT devices from your main network, and give you visibility into what every device is doing.
Basic: FreeHardware firewall: $250-500
Antivirus and Endpoint Protection
Antivirus software scans your devices for malware, ransomware, and other malicious software. It's a critical layer of defense—but there's more nuance here than the antivirus industry's marketing suggests.
The current reality: Windows Defender, built into Windows 10 and 11, has matured significantly. Independent testing labs (AV-Test, AV-Comparatives) consistently rate it "excellent," scoring 6 out of 6 across protection, performance, and usability. For most home users who practice reasonable online habits, Windows Defender provides strong protection at no additional cost.
When additional protection makes sense: Third-party antivirus products offer features beyond basic malware scanning—like VPNs, password managers, parental controls, and identity monitoring bundles. If you want an all-in-one security suite, or if your household has higher-risk users (teenagers, less tech-savvy family members), a paid solution can provide value.
The bottom line: Antivirus protection is essential—don't go without it. But you may already have excellent protection built into your operating system. Evaluate whether additional features justify the cost for your situation.
Windows Defender: FreePremium suites: $40-100/year
Mobile Device Security: Your Most Personal Attack Surface
Your smartphone likely contains more sensitive information than any other device you own—banking apps, email, photos, stored passwords, and direct access to your accounts through authenticator apps. Mobile devices face unique threats that desktop security doesn't fully address.
Essential mobile protections:
- Enable a strong screen lock (6+ digit PIN, pattern, or biometric)
- Turn on automatic updates for your operating system and apps
- Review app permissions regularly—does that flashlight app really need access to your contacts?
- Enable Find My Device (iPhone) or Find My Phone (Android) for remote locate and wipe
- Be extremely cautious with SMS links—smishing (SMS phishing) has a 19-36% click rate, far higher than email phishing
- Only install apps from official app stores (App Store, Google Play)
- Consider enabling SIM PIN to prevent SIM-swapping attacks on your phone number
Why this matters: Your phone number is increasingly used as an identity verification method. If someone gains control of your phone or phone number through SIM-swapping, they can intercept MFA codes, reset passwords, and access your accounts. The FBI reported a sharp rise in schemes targeting mobile users in 2024.
Additional consideration for families: Children's phones and tablets need parental controls, app installation restrictions, and regular conversations about online safety. Most mobile operating systems have built-in parental control features.
Understanding the Marketing: VPNs and Identity Protection
The cybersecurity industry sometimes oversells certain products. Understanding what these services actually do—and don't do—helps you make informed decisions about what's right for your household.
Consumer VPNs: Useful, But Not Universal Protection
VPN providers often advertise their products as essential protection against hackers, surveillance, and online threats. The reality is more nuanced.
What VPNs actually do:
- Route your internet connection through an encrypted tunnel
- Hide your browsing activity from your ISP
- Mask your IP address from websites you visit
- Allow you to appear to be in a different geographic location
What VPNs don't do:
- Protect against malware, phishing, or viruses
- Make you anonymous (cookies and fingerprinting still track you)
- Protect your accounts from being hacked
- Provide significantly more security on public WiFi than HTTPS already does
When VPNs provide real value:
- Accessing region-restricted content
- Hiding browsing activity from your ISP
- Circumventing internet censorship
- Connecting to corporate networks for remote work
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) notes that VPNs are "best suited for routing your network connection through a different network"—useful in specific situations, but not the universal protection marketing suggests.
Identity Theft Protection: Know What You're Paying For
Services like LifeLock, Aura, and IdentityGuard market themselves as protection against identity theft. Understanding what these services actually provide helps you decide whether they're right for your situation.
What these services typically include:
- Credit monitoring (alerts when new accounts are opened)
- Dark web monitoring (scanning for your info in breach databases)
- Identity recovery assistance
- Insurance coverage for identity theft expenses
Important limitations:
- Cannot prevent identity theft—they detect and respond to it
- Cannot remove your information from the dark web
- Cannot monitor unconnected systems (medical records, government databases)
- Credit monitoring duplicates free services from bureaus
What actually prevents new account fraud:
A credit freeze. This is free, and it stops identity thieves from opening accounts in your name because lenders can't access your credit report.
The question isn't whether paid services are "worth it" universally—it's whether they provide value for your specific situation. Our assessment helps you understand which approach fits your needs.
Your Risk Profile Matters
Cybersecurity isn't one-size-fits-all. Your household's specific circumstances affect which protections deserve priority. Our assessment tailors recommendations based on these factors:
Remote Work
Working from home expands your attack surface. Research shows remote workers face three times higher rates of phishing attacks. Home networks typically lack enterprise security controls, and personal devices blur the line between work and personal data.
Children Online
Kids face unique online risks—from inappropriate content to predatory behavior to smart toy vulnerabilities. With 42% of children ages 5-7 now owning tablets, families need to consider parental controls, content filtering, and age-appropriate privacy settings.
Smart Home Devices
The average American home now has 21 connected devices, each representing a potential entry point. Smart TVs, voice assistants, doorbell cameras, and connected appliances all communicate over your network. More devices mean greater benefit from network-level protections.
Seniors in the Household
Adults over 60 face disproportionate targeting by cybercriminals, accounting for $4.9 billion in losses in 2024—the highest of any age group. Tech support scams, investment fraud, and romance scams specifically target older adults.
Home-Based Business
Running a business from home means you may be handling customer data, financial transactions, or sensitive information on the same network your family uses. Small businesses account for one-third of all data breaches.
Personal Finance Online
If you manage banking, investments, retirement accounts, or bill payments online, you're handling high-value targets. Financial account compromise can result in direct monetary loss. Prioritize MFA on all financial accounts.
Mobile-Dependent Household
If your household relies heavily on smartphones and tablets for banking, shopping, email, and daily activities, mobile security deserves special attention. Mobile devices face unique threats including SMS phishing (smishing), malicious apps, and SIM-swapping attacks that can bypass traditional MFA.
See What Matters for Your Household
Every household is different. Our free assessment asks about your specific situation—not generic security questions—and provides personalized recommendations based on what actually matters for you.
- Evaluates your household's unique risk profile
- Identifies gaps in your current protections
- Prioritizes recommendations by impact
- Explains the "why" behind each suggestion
- Based on guidance from CISA, NIST, FBI, and FTC
No account requiredNo email captureTakes about 5 minutes100% free
Whether you implement recommendations yourself or want professional help, this assessment provides clarity on what your household actually needs.