10/27/2010 11:09:19 AM
IT Security news: Who has got WiFi at home??
Yup, pretty much everyone these days! Long gone are the times
when you had to pay for a wireless router - you get them free now.
And how easy are they to set up? It takes about five minutes and
apparently you have a secure wireless network at home. Easy peasy
eh? Not so according to a recent study by CPP, a life assistance
company.
CPP looked at six cities in the UK and nearly 40,000 Wi-Fi
networks were at high risk and could be attacked and accessed in
less than FIVE seconds. How? Once again, easy peesy - by
downloading free software from the net.
Of greater concern was that publicly available networks were
also at risk, resulting in security implications for business, as
they were likely to be accessed by mobile devices for work related
tasks.
Hackers could get usernames and passwords from people using
public networks at the rate of more than 250 per hour - once again
another alarm bell was that more than 200 people an hour accessed a
fake WiFi network which they thought was legitimate.
ITD's and CSO's might have the latest software, patches and
firewalls, but do they educate staff on the basics of network
security? Probably not. I know that I regularly meet people on
neutral locations and log my laptop and mobile device onto a public
WiFi network - I will be speaking with my ITD shortly to understand
more and make sure I am working smartly and safely.
Damian Hicklin
IT
Security & Communications Manager
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ARM