IT for Business: How to Keep Your Wireless Network Safe

Wireless technology is practically a must with today’s on-the-go, global workforce. Following is some insight into how to keep your firm’s wireless network safe.

Wireless Security Manufacturer’s Settings

Wireless network systems already have security measures installed when you first purchase them. Most of the settings are default settings configured by the manufacturer. Your IT department (or IT firm you contract with) will be able to reset these when they install it.

Wireless Network Password Setting

One of the first things your IT department will do is reset the password the manufacturer has in place. It’s amazing what hackers can learn from passwords. For, not only are these type of pre-configured passwords easy to spot, they can also pass along critical info like what type of hardware your company uses.

Note: If you outsource your firm’s IT functions, be sure to conduct due diligence on any company you’re thinking about using. As they will have access to your network and its data, it’s imperative that a noted, trusted firm is used.

How to Prevent Theft of Your Firm’s Wireless Capabilities

As the use of wireless technology has increased, so has the theft of it. “Attackers love wireless networks,” says Forrester Research Senior Analyst John Kindervag. “They’re easier to break into, and they tend to have fewer controls. . . . It is clearly one of the greatest hack vectors, but for whatever reason, there’s a lot of complacency around it.”

One easy way to overcome complacency and prevent wireless theft is to use updated encryption technology. To explain, older wireless networks use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption security. It was the first widely available encryption standard, but is largely unused now because of a number of weaknesses that make it so easy to hack into.

Newer wireless networks use WiFi Protected Access (WPA) for encryption. Most internet security experts agree that using WPA is pretty much impenetrable, especially when you consider most hackers want “ease of entry.”

A hacker would have to spend time testing millions of password combinations to find the correct one if you use this type of encryption technology.  And most just aren’t going to do that.

IT Security for Your Wireless Network: The Use of “Hybrid Security”

Many companies use a hybrid form of security to protect their wireless networks. For example, they may use WPA2 encryption technology and require a VPN to connect. While some may think of it as “wireless network security overkill,” it is extremely effective because it treats access from a wireless network as insecure as it treats access from the regular internet.