The average household tends to use the router their internet service provider sent them, but F-Secure wants you to ditch that in favour of Sense: their new router that adds a layer of online security protection to your home network.
Note: F-Secure clarified that Sense connects to your existing router; it doesn’t replace it entirely.
As if we didn’t have enough warnings about online security, the threat of identity theft and hackers, the NHS for instance was on the receiving end of a ransomware cyber attack. It’s scary stuff, and certainly an eye opener about the seriousness of online security.
Now factor in the fact that we’re filling our homes with more and more internet-connected devices — many times without any protection from online threats — and it’s a vulnerable position to be in.
F-Secure Sense: online security at a network level
The idea behind F-Secure Sense — which also happens to be the company’s first hardware product — is to have your router protect your home at a network level, not per device. They break it down into three layers of protection.
- The router. F-Secure’s Sense router is a single solution that protects everything, from computers and phones to smart TVs to baby monitors, against viruses and hackers
- The app. The accompanying app for Sense manages your home network and provides additional security features while you’re on the go
- The cloud. F-Secure’s Sense Cloud uses “cutting edge artificial intelligence to sense the traffic of connected home devices and to protect against IoT threats and hacking”
Sense’s job is to “secure browser traffic by automatically blocking phishing, intrusive tracking and other malicious attacks”, with more privacy features being promised as free automatic updates in future. All of this protection will mainly stem from the Sense Cloud and its machine-learning technology to deal with threats before they have a chance to land on your device.
The unit’s dimensions are 8.54 × 4.88 × 3.54 in, and its all-white shell with a simple LED display will help F-Secure Sense blend in almost anywhere.
Later today I’ll have the opportunity to get hands-on with F-Secure Sense for myself, so stay tuned to LetsTalk-Tech.com for my first impressions.
Pricing and availability
F-Secure Sense will be available from June 2017 in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. The router unit itself (along with a year’s subscription to the Sense service) will cost 199 EUR/USD, with monthly subscriptions costing 9.90 EUR/USD after your first year. You do have the option of dropping the subscription of course, and you’ll still be left with Sense’s router capabilities.
To learn more about their new router F-Secure Sense, including technical details, visit: www.f-secure.com/sense.
