Companies neglect Wi-Fi network security

Some 64% of companies are neglecting wireless local area network (Wlan) security, according to a study from Motorola. The survey from Vanson Bourne found that more than half of large companies use the same security measures for both wired and wireless networks.

Although different types of threats and weaknesses confront wired and wireless local area networks, only 47% of companies are using Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption on their wireless networks, and less than a third (30%) use any form of wireless intrusion prevention system. More than half (56%) of organisations believe that many employees flout security measures by sending corporate data over completely unsecured wireless networks, such as those at wireless hotspots in cafes, rather than using some form of virtual private network.

The survey showed that more than half of companies spent more than two hours every week searching for "rogue" access points, instead of focusing on other areas of wireless security such as encryption.

Amit Sinha, fellow and chief technologist of Motorola Enterprise Wireless Lan, said, "It is surprising that companies today are not using wireless encryption standards such asWi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)."

Sinha noted that with employees becoming increasingly mobile, outdoor networks and wireless hotspots in cafes may present a security "back door" into the network.

"Education is vital to improving wireless network security. Wireless introduced vulnerabilities in the corporate network that traditional security architectures cannot mitigate," he said.