Quarter of UK firms have no wireless security policy
Survey finds that 26 per cent of organisations fail to govern security of wireless access for staff.
A quarter of UK companies fail to enforce a security policy governing the use of wireless networks, according to new research.
The study of 320 companies, carried out by Infosecurity Europe, found that 26 per cent of organisations do not enforce a wireless security policy. Additional interviews with 20 chief security officers in large UK enterprises found that the main concerns they had were not about corporate users accessing a corporate wireless network from within their own buildings, but when users access wireless networks when they are out of the office and unwittingly connect to wireless networks that are insecure or even malicious.
"The situation right now is that most businesses do not scan their perimeters regularly. This is of course essential if you have a policy of 'No Wireless!' to ensure it stays that way," said Phil Cracknell, president of IT security professional association ISSA UK. "It is equally important to scan for new devices, rogue access points and drifting client cards that might choose to connect to networks nearby for a variety of reasons."
Cracknell said that the last six years of wireless development have brought massive change to the way computers are used and the way in which they can be exploited.
"Experts have said since the start, 'This is nothing new, use the same principles to secure the technology,' but looking back I am not sure that's entirely true," he said. "We have seen here, concepts and attacks, the likes of which cannot be paralleled."
He said the same principles would have to be so high level they would not be relevant. "We have to innovate and adapt to counter the new wireless threats. Who was it that said, 'If you keep doing what you've always done you'll keep getting what you've always got?'"
Reproduced from an article published by ITPro
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