An advanced digital privacy guide for the households that need it most. Discover how even the high-risk networks of corporate executives, board members, high-profile individuals, and affluent families remain protected from 2027’s developing threats.

An unsecured smart camera at the front door. A voice assistant, listening in the kitchen. A router the internet provider dropped off years ago with the same, default password. Too often, when our personal cybersecurity experts run home network assessments, that’s what they find.

Unfortunately, that’s because most home network security advice stops at “change your Wi-Fi password,” “install antivirus protection,” or “turn on a firewall.” It’s true that it can be fine for many households, since security risks are generally lower. But it isn’t nearly enough for those whose networks are deliberately and consistently targeted: like those of an executive, a public official, a company founder, high-profile media personalities, or anyone whose name, address, or face carries public weight—or anyone who can be the target of disgruntled former employees, business competitors, or bad actors. 

This guide covers the technical upgrades your home network requires for true digital and privacy protection, as well as the cyber trends worth watching as 2027 approaches. Learn how to develop your own advanced home network security, directly from the personal cybersecurity experts who pioneered digital executive protection for executives in the Fortune 500.

Why your home network has become a primary target

The average U.S. household runs north of 20 connected devices, from thermostats and doorbell cameras to game consoles and smart speakers. Every one of those devices has its own vulnerabilities, and many have protections that are long out of date.

Cybercriminals know this. In June 2026, a botnet called AryStinger compromised more than 4,300 routers worldwide, many of which were part of personal home networks. 

Home networks are attractive precisely because they’re numerous, poorly maintained, and rarely monitored—and they often can be a foothold to allow access to your employer’s more lucrative corporate accounts. Once a router or camera is compromised, it can be used to attack other networks, mine cryptocurrency, or else sit quietly collecting information, like audio, video, passwords, and web traffic, as an attacker waits for the right opportunity to take advantage.

Recent, heightened risk for executives, public figures, and influencers 

This is particularly true for high-risk, high-visibility individuals and their families. Executives, board members, government officials, celebrities, influencers, and anyone with notable wealth families are increasingly being targeted by a wide range of cyberattacks, from identity theft to doxxing and swatting. In a recent Techstrong PulseMeter report, over a third of high-profile respondents said a family member had been targeted in social engineering attacks. 

The targeting of corporate executives alone specifically rose 313% between 2023 and 2025. For that reason, standard home network protections are no longer enough.

2027 cyber trends reshaping home network risk

A few developments are worth tracking because they’re fundamentally changing the nature of what it means to have a secure home network.

  • AI Impersonation is increasing: AI voice cloning is becoming increasingly sophisticated—and common. Cloning a voice convincingly now takes as little as three seconds of sample audio. As a result, deepfake-enabled fraud attempts have risen more than 1,300%. Already, high-profile homes are a frequent target, with 42% of executives and board members targeted by a fake image or video.
  • Data collection has ramped up. AI has also supercharged the data broker economy that doxxing and swatting depend on. More personal data is getting tracked and shared faster, which means less greater risks for your personal privacy.
  • Social engineering has grown more sophisticated. The families of high-profile individuals can now expect to be the targets of hyper-personalized phishing, vishing, and deepfake video attacks, all generated by agentic AI.
  • Ransomware and Doxxing-as-a-service: Dark web forums increasingly offer these advanced cyberattacks as available services, meaning someone doesn’t actually need technical skill to have you targeted.

Advanced home network protection: The basics and beyond

The basics of home network security are a necessary foundation, as advanced techniques are largely built on top of them. For any home network, you should:

  • Turn on WPA3 encryption, or WPA2 if your router doesn’t support WPA3.
  • Set a strong, unique admin password, separate from the Wi-Fi password guests and devices use.
  • Change the default network name so it doesn’t broadcast your router’s make, model, or your identity.
  • Turn on a guest network for visitors and any devices you don’t fully trust.
  • Disable UPnP, WPS, and remote administrative access unless you have a specific reason to keep them on. For most networks, you can find these under “Advanced Settings” in the app for your Eero, Google Nest Wifi, Orbi, or AT&T Smart Home Manager.
  • Enable the router’s built-in firewall, turn on automatic firmware updates, and follow our best practices to mitigate your firewall’s vulnerabilities.

Those steps are typically enough for most home networks. If you feel you may be someone whose network may be at increased risk, the following steps can provide additional hardening.

Segment your home network

On a typical home network, a single hack can potentially reach any devices on the same subnet. VLANs (virtual LANs) fix this by splitting the network into isolated zones: a trusted zone for computers and phones, an IoT zone for smart devices, a locked-down zone for cameras and smart locks, plus a guest network that can’t reach any of the above. 

Replace any end-of-life hardware

If a manufacturer has stopped issuing firmware updates, nothing you can do will fully close its known vulnerabilities. In the recent AryStinger incident, even after compromised end-of-life routers were identified, many remained unpatched and continue to be a threat. 

For old routers and IoT devices, the only real fix is a complete replacement. When setting up your new devices, we recommend following BlackCloak’s new device security guide. 

Monitor the network—and set up notifications

Visibility is a key step in protection. A hardware firewall or a scanning app can highlight unrecognized devices joining the network. 

Run a full audit monthly to double-check no remaining devices are left unchecked. It’s also a good idea to set up phone notifications for each time a new device joins your network. 

Home blurring

Google Street View exposes detailed images of your home, giving attackers useful visual context for social engineering and home network attacks. Even street photos can reveal personal IoT devices and other vulnerabilities to target. With home blurring, you hide this information from public view.

Extend protection beyond the network 

Network hardening protects the hardware. Unfortunately, it does nothing to stop someone from using data pulled from a breach, a data broker, or a family member’s social media to build a fake profile or a cloned voice of someone in your household. 

Network security is only one part of protecting your digital security and privacy. That’s why other services are needed for comprehensive digital protection. 

  • Deep and dark web monitoring will provide an active review of the unindexed internet and dark web for exposed personal data that can be leveraged to create fake accounts impersonating you or your family. 
  • Impersonation Protection can shut down even the most advanced deepfake attacks, ensuring out-of-band authentication for your most sensitive work and personal conversations. 
  • Identity theft protection will provide comprehensive defenses against phishing, compromised email accounts, and public data exposure—and the best services will also provide incident response support.

Frequently asked questions

Is my home network secure?

There’s no single switch that makes it secure, but a few checks get you most of the way there: confirm WPA3 or WPA2 encryption is on, verify remote administration is off, check that firmware is current, and scan for unfamiliar devices. If your router is more than four or five years old, check whether the manufacturer still issues security updates.

How do I know if my router has been hacked or is part of a botnet?

Warning signs include unexplained slowdowns, devices you don’t recognize on your network list, settings that changed without your input, or your ISP flagging unusual outbound traffic. Because botnet malware is often designed to run silently, the more reliable approach is prevention: keep firmware current, disable remote access, and replace hardware once support ends.

What does my home network have to do with doxxing or swatting?

Attackers building a profile for doxxing or swatting often pull from public records, data brokers, and social media rather than hacking your router. 

A poorly secured network, especially unsecured smart cameras or a compromised device, can hand over details, like your daily routine or your kids’ school pickup time, that make those attacks more effective.

Do I need a VPN on my home network?

A VPN is a valuable tool for privacy: it encrypts traffic between your device and the VPN server, which is useful on public Wi-Fi and can mask your general location. However, for the purposes of home network security, it does little to protect devices that have been hacked inside your home network from each other. 

For this, segmentation and firmware hygiene matter more for home network security specifically.

Is a standard mesh Wi-Fi system secure enough for a high-risk network?

Not on its own. Consumer mesh systems handle Wi-Fi coverage well but rarely offer the segmentation, support, or traffic monitoring that a high-risk household needs. Many can be upgraded through a dedicated security appliance to help with network segmentation and other additional protections. 

Still, for most high-profile, affluent, or executive families, the appliance solves only the network half of the problem. The other half is everything a router can’t see: your family’s data sitting on the dark web, a fake account or deepfake impersonating you, a compromised email account. That’s usually where holistic protections like deep and dark web monitoring, impersonation protection, and identity theft protection come in.

How often should I actually check on my home network?

Set firmware to auto-update where possible, then do a manual check monthly: look at connected devices, confirm no new admin accounts exist, and verify your router’s software version against the manufacturer’s latest release. Push notifications for each new connecting device will help you keep a daily review.

Are home network security services worth paying for?

For a typical household, a well-configured router and a bit of routine maintenance covers most of the risk. For anyone facing targeted risk (meaning executives, public officials, celebrities and influencers, and affluent families) paid home network security services and monitoring earn their cost with routine network scans, ideally paired with continuous device monitoring, data broker removal, and a dedicated response team for if something does go wrong.

Checklist: How to keep your home privacy secure in 2027

This checklist breaks the most important home network security steps for anyone facing elevated personal or privacy risk.

In these three categories, you’ll find standard best practices to protect your network, what will harden it further if you’re at-risk, and what helps provide holistic home privacy and security protection.

Securing your network: The basics

  • Turn on WPA3 (or WPA2) encryption, and set a unique admin password, separate from the Wi-Fi password.
  • Rename your network, and disable UPnP, WPS, and remote administrative access.
  • Use a guest network: Put guests and any device you don’t fully trust on their own guest network.
  • Turn on automatic firmware updates, and enable your router’s built-in firewall.

Advanced home network hardening: For elevated risk

  • Segment your network into zones: trusted, IoT, cameras and locks, and guest.
  • Replace any older router or IoT device your manufacturer no longer patches.
  • Turn on notifications for new devices joining your network, and audit the full device list monthly.
  • Blur your home on Google Street View so it’s harder for someone to case from online.

Protecting your identity: Beyond your network

  • Minimize your public footprint: Get your home address off your employer’s website, public directories, and data broker sites.
  • Monitor the deep and dark web for your family’s exposed data and any accounts impersonating you.
  • Use Impersonation Protection: Authenticate communications from close family members for any urgent request for money made by phone or video.
  • Review who has access to your home network, including household staff, friends, and others, and keep them on a separate, limited guest network.

For high-risk families: When DIY isn’t enough

BlackCloak’s Digital Executive Protection Platform is specially designed to handle the significant cyber risks for executives, board members, public figures, celebrities and influencers, HNWIs, and their families through all the network hardening and digital privacy services covered here—and more.

If your job title, wealth, or public exposure has placed your household at increased risk, contact our experts to see how BlackCloak’s tailored personal cybersecurity and privacy protection can help you.