Viasat Shield
Viasat Shield is an easy-to-use service that helps protect your Viasat Internet home and Wi-Fi network by defending against common online security threats like data breaches, phishing attempts, and more.
Viasat Shield Overview
Viasat Shield actively monitors and blocks suspicious activity from accessing customer devices — including smart home devices — and provides a simple, easy-to-use digital dashboard to help you manage your home network and monitor devices connected to it.
Viasat Shield includes:
- Device info available on the Viasat Wireless Gateway (VWG) and Surfbeam2+ (SB2+) modems only
- The ability to view all the devices currently connected to your network
- The ability to view the bandwidth each device has used in the past 7 days.
- Network Threat Protection: Network insight and protection against network attacks.
- Available on all modems
Viasat Shield Premium includes:
- The ability to pause and resume internet connectivity to specific devices while maintaining internet connectivity for other devices.
- The ability to see if a device has acquired a threat and insight into suspicious behavior. You’ll be able to see general threat information and recommendations for remedies to the issue.
- Vulnerabilities allow unknown or malicious parties to take control of a device. To view additional information on vulnerable device events, please see the Viasat Shield Premium FAQs at the bottom of this page.
- Browsing protection – you’ll be notified when you’re trying to access a website deemed to be unsafe.
- The Viasat Shield Premium includes Anti-Virus by Bitdefender.
Viasat Shield Premium is not available for purchase.
Viasat Shield FAQs
Viasat Shield is a digital security service that helps protect your home network and connected devices from malicious traffic. We actively monitor and block suspicious activity from accessing your devices — including smart home devices — and provide a simple, easy-to-use digital dashboard to help you manage your home network and monitor devices connected to it.
An online threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life. Online threats include computer viruses, data breaches, malware, phishing, and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, to name a few.
Check out this article for other ways to protect yourself from online threats: Control Who's on Your Home Network
The most common scenario for not seeing any devices in the Viasat Shield app is when your Viasat modem is in bridge mode and a 3rd party router (such as an ARIA2210) is in use. Since your devices are connecting to the 3rd party router and not directly to your Viasat modem, the Viasat Shield app is unable to detect them.
The vendor name should allow you to narrow to devices in your home. This could include smart home devices, wearables (e.g., smart watches), phones, tablets, and computers. You can also use the device MAC address displayed in the device details. For instructions on how to find your device’s MAC address please see the How can I find my device’s MAC address to help me identify it within the app FAQ directly below.
If you’re still unable to identify a device based on its vendor name and MAC address, our recommendation is to pause or block the device with Viasat Shield Premium until you are able to identify it.
iPhones & iPads:
- Open Settings
- Tap Wi-Fi
- Tap the info icon (the blue circle with an "i" in it) next to the Wi-Fi network your device is connected to
- Your MAC address is listed in the Wi-Fi Address field
Android Phones & Tablets:
- Open Settings
- Tap Connections
- Tap Wi-Fi
- Tap Settings for the Wi-Fi network your device is connected to
- Scroll down to see your MAC address
If you use a device on both your 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks, please note that due to the MAC randomization setting that is turned on by default on many devices, your device may have a different MAC address for each network, causing it to display twice in the Shield app.
If you don't see your device type listed above, you should be able to find its MAC address in the device's Wi-Fi or general settings. Some smart home devices may also have their MAC address printed on the physical device.
Yes; however, the app is small and its impact on data usage is minimal.
Yes, Shield allows you to view the status of devices connected to your network within the past seven days, as well as those currently paused or blocked.
You can name a device by clicking on the device and selecting 'Edit.' After adding a nickname, scroll down to ensure the name is saved.
If you use a device on both your 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks, please note that due to the MAC randomization setting that is turned on by default on many devices, your device may have a different MAC address for each network, causing it to display twice in the Shield app. Please refer to the How can I find my device’s MAC address to help me identify it within the app FAQ for steps on how to identify a device’s MAC address(es).
Viasat Shield Premium FAQs
If Shield is blocking a website; a message will appear specifically noting that Shield has blocked it.
A device's access to the network can be unpaused via Devices>Select the device name>Select Unpause. Unpausing may take up to 10 minutes, depending on your device's settings, and you may need to reconnect to the internet via your device's Wi-Fi settings.
It may take up to 10 minutes for the device to be removed from the network. Once this occurs, it will appear in the 'Devices offline' section of the Devices page, displayed with an orange pause icon. You may need to pull down/refresh the page to see this status updated.
The device may show as connected in its Wi-Fi settings but will be unable to access the internet via your Wi-Fi network. If the device still appears to be able to use the internet, please confirm that it hasn't switched to another internet connection, such as your cellular network.
If you use a device on both your 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi networks, please note that due to the MAC randomization setting that is turned on by default on many devices, your device may have a different MAC address for each network causing it to display twice in the Shield app. If this occurs, you will need to pause each version of the device within the app to ensure it cannot use the internet through any of your Wi-Fi networks.
To respect privacy, we don't present what sites were blocked nor who tried to access them.
Vulnerable Device Events
- What do ADB responders mean?
- ADB means Android Debug Bridge.
- Software engineers use this bridge via a port to develop on Android devices.
- When the debugging port is left open on the Android device, malicious actors can remotely access and download malware.
- What can I do?
- The most direct way to disable the ADB is by turning off "Debug options."
- To locate the debug option by navigating to Native Settings → System → Developer Options.
- Why did this happen?
- This could have been done innocently or maliciously by entities such as your device's manufacturer or a malicious actor looking to access your device.
- What do Mirai botnet responders mean?
- Mirai is a botnet that attempts to take control of IoT and smart devices for malicious activity.
- The botnet is known to spread its malware over specific ports.
- What can I do?
- Close ports 5358, 7547, 23231 on the device if applicable. If IoT or smart device, contact the manufacturer or remove it from the internet.
- Why did this happen?
- Certain device manufacturers leave ports open on the devices they create either innocently for remote software updates.
- However, this is an insecure practice that allows malicious actors to exploit.
- What do RDP responders mean?
- Remote Desktop (or RDP) is a computer program that allows a person to control a device remotely over specific ports.
- If this program is not password protected, a malicious person could get access to it and control your device.
- What can I do?
- Remote Desktop is generally available as a configurable option on Windows devices.
- Navigate to the System or Security tabs of your Windows device's Control Panel.
- Look for an option called "Remote Desktop" and select "Don't Allow Connections to This Computer."
- "Remote desktop" or "control panel" can also be searched in later Windows OS versions' Windows menu search bar.
- Why did this happen?
- Remote Desktop can be used for legitimate purposes and securely if using a strong, reliable password.
- It is disabled by default.
To remove Shield Premium, logon to My Viasat and click Manage Add-Ons or call customer care at 855-463-9333.
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