Is Your Wireless Network Secure?
By Travis Fisher

Organizations in our region have been steadily adopting wireless networking over the past few years, and many more businesses will take the leap to wireless over the course of 2006. By implementing a wireless network, your employees can do their job more efficiently and be more productive. For just about every business, there is an opportunity to use a wireless network to become more competitive in the marketplace.

Many businesses have installed wireless access points (WAPs) in order to realize various benefits, but my experience has shown that relatively few organizations understand the importance of properly securing their wireless network. If an attacker gains wireless access to your network, they are behind your firewall and there is very little protection available to you. It is not uncommon to find unsecured networks in our region, and I frequently see access points in use that are not up to today’s security standards. When you add in the number of improperly configured WAPs, it becomes apparent that our region has a lot of room for improvement.

When evaluating your need for wireless security, you should ask yourself these four questions: How valuable is your data and how sensitive is it? What regulations are your company obligated to meet regarding data privacy? How much traffic passes by your office? Are there any potentially attractive targets near you? In many instances a company’s wireless security policy is like failing to have a front door to your house. Anybody walking by can peek in to see your valuables, and easily walk in to take whatever they want.