Qondio
Front
Intel
IntelMart
Shares
My Qondio
Account
Titan Hotspots > Intel > Is your access point secure?

qondio.com/JM7m PRINT EMAIL

Is your access point secure?

Starting in 2002, RSA, the security division of EMC, has been doing periodic checks and surveys of wireless networks used in large cities to measure the changes in their use. In 2007, they found a significantly larger amount of networks going live. The only problem is that while the use of network security technology is also up, it’s not enough to match the level of current wireless network expansion.

“We drive the same route in New York, London and Paris,” comments Toffer Winslow, vice president of product management and marketing at RSA. “We record the total number of access points we see. We can determine things like the encryption tech they’re using, if defaults have changed, that kind of thing,” all data collected used free, and easily used applications. The similarities in the route makes it easy to draw conclusions from the data collected.

From the data taken, the amount of access points on the routes observed took a huge jump. Paris increased by 44%, New York by 49%, and London with the most at 160%! The RSA also notes that the amount of access points that are in use for business in London was up by 180%!

Although the amount of access points in use is up, so is the number of encryption on the access points. Not enough to keep up with the number of access points. From the data taken, use of WEP encryption or WPA/802.11i in London only rose 6% (to 81%) in London and about 2% in Paris and New York(to 76% and 80%). Although not all are encrypted, it is still better than in 2004 when RSA found that only 2/3 of London and Paris access points were encrypted.

Not only do access points lack in encryption, but business access points face similar problems. “The thing that boggles my mind is in 2007, one quarter to one fifth of businesses have no encryption at all,” comments Winslow. Its not only a problem of no encryption, but also a problem of lazy encryption. RSA found that 30% of access points had default passwords installed on their networks.Winslow comments on the problem saying, “A lot of unsophisticated users make themselves vulnerable.”

Obviously there a problem with a lack of education on network security which needs to be addressed in the coming years.

Would you like to know more about how Titan Hotspots protects hotspot users with secure Wi-Fi hotspots using the latest security technologies? Read about it on the features page or just give us a call! Toll-Free: 1 (800) 616-7609

Contributed by Titan Hotspots on March 7, 2008, at 3:09 AM UTC.

Reactions

No reactions yet.

Rate This Intel

Please login or sign up to rate this intel.

Comments

Please login or sign up to add a comment.

Share

Copyright Notice

The copyright for this content entitled "Is your access point secure?" has been specified by the contributor as:

All Rights Reserved

This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.

Login Here with
Any Email Address
Any Password
No account? Sign up.

Intel Contributor
This intel was contributed by Titan Hotspots


Titan Hotspots

Qondio Archive
May, 2012
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031


2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May

Sign Up
Not a member yet? Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to promote, we can help. Sign up and get in on the action.

About Qondio
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.

ABOUT
SUCCESS GUIDE
FEATURES
FAQ
ADVERTISE
CONTACT
USAGE POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY


TWITTER
FACEBOOK