How safe are wireless networks? 

A Fortinet survey finding has revealed that wireless network is the weakest security link in enterprise IT infrastructure. 

The online survey conducted amongst 1490 Information Technology Decision Makers (ITDMs) from around the globe (including India) shows that insufficient wireless security is a concern for all. Respondents positioned wireless as significantly more vulnerable than core networking infrastructure. 

The confidence levels in wireless security however varied with China topping the board with 71 per cent “very concerned” followed by India at 61 per cent compared to 13 per cent in Japan. 

Survey researchers said that this was hardly surprising given that more than a-third of the enterprise wireless networks put in place for internal employees did not have the basic security function of authentication in place. 

Nearly half of the ITDMs considered loss of sensitive corporate/customer data the biggest risk in operating in an unsecured wireless environment. Industrial espionage was cited as the next highest risk followed by non compliance to industry regulations and service interruptions. 

Wireless infrastructure governed by a premise-based controller was found to be a thing of the past with cloud management becoming the norm. While this trend for cloud-based management is set to grow, the ITDMs refused to trust the cloud for critical management. 

Commenting on the findings, Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager (India and SAARC), Fortinet said, “despite the growth in mobility strategies, wireless security has simply not been a priority for enterprises till date. As advanced persistent attacks increasingly target multiple entry points and the cloud becomes more prevalent, it is not an oversight organisations should risk any longer.” 

“IT leaders are beginning to recognise the role wireless security plays in protecting the critical business assets, yet there is more to be done. As IT strives to balance the need for strong network security, wireless must be considered as part of a holistic security strategy to ensure broad and consistent protection over wired and wireless access,” he said. 

Source : thehindubusinessline