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How To: Use Advanced Security

Advanced Security monitors your home network for online threats in real-time and alerts you of any suspicious activity. To access your Advanced Security features, go to the Home tab in the Rogers Xfinity app and select Advanced Security.

When enabled, Advanced Security will detect and block network threats in real-time. You'll receive notifications as threats are detected, and you can check the dashboard anytime for a summary. This article covers how to access Advanced Security and what to do when a threat is detected.

How to access the Advanced Security dashboard

Here's how to access the Advanced Security dashboard in Rogers Xfinity.

  1. Open the Rogers Xfinity app.
  2. Select the Home tab.
  3. Select Advanced Security.
  4. The Advanced Security dashboard shows a detailed view of threats blocked in the past seven days, and a list of devices associated with them. The message at the top of the dashboard lets you know if any threats need your attention.
    • "Nothing to report yet!" means no threats have been detected recently.
    • "Good News!"means threats have been detected, but nothing needs your attention right now.
    • "We've Been Busy!" means threats have been detected that require your attention.

Advanced Security Card

The Advanced Security Card provides a summary of how many security risks it helped block in the last week. It also has a convenient link to the Advanced Security Dashboard. If you dismiss the summary card information, it will reappear in one week with a new summary of risks it blocked. Here's how to access the Advanced Security Card in Rogers Xfinity.

  1. Open the Rogers Xfinity app.
  2. Select the Overview tab, where the Advanced Security Card is located.

How to identify threats

Threats are split into two main categories:

  • No Action Required: These threat reports are for your awareness only.
  • Action Required: These threats need your attention, and may require further steps to be resolved.

 To make things easy to manage, your devices are listed with the associated number of threats.

  1. Select any device listed on the Advanced Security dashboard.
  2. A list of blocked threats associated with that device is shown. Select a threat to learn more about that specific threat type.

Types of threats

There are a few different threat types that Advanced Security can detect and block. Here are the details on each threat type, and some tips on what to do when they come up.

Suspicious Site Visit

  • Occurs when a device that’s connected to your home network is stopped from visiting a potentially dangerous site. The site may contain malware or viruses that can infect your devices and compromise your personal data.
  • We'll often block just part of a page from loading (like a banner ad) if it appears to be malicious. If this happens, you'll be able to see the rest of the page while still being protected.
  • Tips: 
    • Check your threat history in the dashboard to see all blocked Suspicious Site Visits, including the specific site and reason it was blocked.
    • If a page is blocked and you still want to view it, access can be allowed for one hour.

Unauthorized Access Attempts

  • Occurs when an outside device tries to access a device connect to your home network.
  • Typically occurs via open ports (port forwards) on your network.
  • Tips:
    • Review open ports on a regular basis and remove any those that don't need to be open.
    • If it's a legitimate and trusted access attempt (for example a home security camera from remote location), you can locate the blocked threat in your threat history and allow access for thirty days.

Targeted Network Attack

  • Occurs when a device on your network has been infected with a virus or malware and, as a result, has tried to participate in an attack on another network. This type of attack is also known as a Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.
  • This attack will be blocked, but the occurrence means that the security of the device may have been compromised.
  • Tips:
    • Restart the associated device and check that it’s running the latest software.
    • Use strong passwords and change them regularly.

IP Reputation Threats

  • Occurs when a device from a known malicious source tries to gain access a device on your home network with the goal of obtaining personal information.
  • Typically occurs via open ports (port forwards) on your network.
  • Tips:
    • Advanced Security will automatically block access attempts from known malicious sources.
    • Review open ports on a regular basis and remove any those that don't need to be open.
 

What to do with threats that require action

Some threats such as Targeted Network Attack, Suspicious Device Activity or Unauthorized Access Attempt may need you to take further action to resolve them.

  1. If a threat requires your attention, you'll receive a notification on your device and an alert at the top of the Advanced Security dashboard.
  2. Tap the notification or select the alert from the dashboard to take action.
  3. The threat details are shown. Select Help Me Fix It for tips on how to resolve the threat.
  4. Advanced Security will offer some suggestions on how you can fix the issue.

How to be notified of a threat

The Rogers Xfinity app can send notifications to your device to alert you of the following threat types:

  • Unauthorized Access Attempts
  • Suspicious Device Activity
  • Targeted Network Attacks

Here's how to enable threat notifications:

  1. From the Rogers Xfinity app, select the Overview tab
  2. Select the Account icon in the  upper left corner
  3. Select Notification Center
  4. Select the gear icon at the top right.
  5. Select Push Notifications.
  6. Select the checkbox next to Network Activity to enable threat notifications.

Note: You can check your threat history any time in the Notification Centre or see recent threats in the Advanced Security dashboard. Email and text notifications aren’t available at this time.

How to override threats and allow access

If Advanced Security has blocked access or content that you know is safe, it can quickly be reversed. Access can be given to blocked content for one hour at a time, and access can be given to a blocked device for thirty days at a time.

For example, you're navigating to a website that was blocked, or you're trying to access your IP camera that's in your garage.

  1. Select the threat in question.
  2. Select Allow Access to override Advanced Security and temporarily allow access.

Note: Allowing access to content or devices considered dangerous may put your network at risk, so it'll only be unblocked temporarily.

How to disable Advanced Security

If you'd like to disable Advanced Security, you can do so in the Rogers Xfinity app. We highly recommend keeping Advanced Security enabled to stay protected from network threats—but if you want to turn it off, here's how to do it:

  1. Open the Rogers Xfinity app.
  2. Select the Overview tab.
  3. Select the Account icon in the upper left corner.
  4. Swipe down to the More Resources section.
  5. Select Shaw Advanced Security.
  6. Select Turn Off under Advanced Security, then select the toggle switch to turn the feature off.
  7. A confirmation message will come up. Select OK to confirm.

To enable Advanced Security again, follow the same steps and select Turn On.