According to analyst house IDC, 25 per cent of Australian organisations currently own and operate a wireless LAN environment. However, many more are holding off due to concerns about security.
In California a law has been passed requiring manufacturers to place a sticker in a prominent place on wireless network products advising users about the need for security. Unfortunately, we aren’t there yet here in Australia, and many people put themselves at risk by continuing to deploy out of the box solutions with little, if any, protection.
Wireless is handy when wired Ethernet would be difficult or expensive. It gives you the freedom to roam, it’s ‘always on’ and it offers very high speed access.
For these very reasons wireless networks are becoming very popular with small, medium and large enterprises. But there are significant security issues that cannot be ignored.
Whether your wireless network is secure or not generally comes down to the skill level of the people setting things up. The bottom line is that people with the least knowledge tend to have the least protection and often leave themselves wide open to abuse.
The good news is that a wireless network can be just as secure as a wired network – but only if your wireless devices support the latest security standards and are correctly configured.
Telarus is well known as a leader in delivering secure telecommunications services. Our award-winning Managed Firewall solution has delivered safe, secure Internet access and significant cost efficiencies for our customers.
We also understand the security issues of a wireless network environment and we are on the brink of launching our Wireless Design and Security Service. The Telarus team can assess, audit and re-design your current office wireless network or scope and design a secure wireless network for your Greenfield site.
Jules Rumsey
Managing Director