Wi-Fi doesn’t give you a competitive advantage, it offers you a chance to compete. With benefits ranging from increased productivity to improved customer satisfaction, implementing a wireless network for your employees and guests has become the table stakes of doing business.
Enabling Wi-Fi is easy. Security is the challenge. Implementing the wrong technology puts your corporate data, customer privacy, and reputation at risk.
Wireless Battle Grounds
Remote Office
As the number of telecommuters continues to rise, so does the number of security threats. Corporate resources and customer data mixed with personal and family web surfing creates a dangerous combination.
Corporate
Organizations around the globe are cutting the cord, and walking away from their desks. High speed 802.11ac wireless connections empower workers to jump from meeting to meeting, without losing a blazing fast connection.
Guest Wi-Fi
Need high quality Wi-Fi for guests that stay for longer periods of time? Between streaming media and doing business, guests require reliable, always-on wireless access.
Public Hotspot
Wi-Fi is a must-have for the modern retailer or coffee shop. Hotspots have become a marketers ally, delivering “proximity marketing” benefits along with driving repeat customers.
Friendly WiFiThreats to Your Wireless Network
A fast wireless network can be a game-changer for your business, but it doesn’t come risk-free. IT professionals must remain vigilant to defend against these threats.
Wi-Fi Password Cracking
Wireless access points that still use older security protocols, like WEP, make for easy targets because passwords are notoriously easy to crack.
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Rogue Hotspots
Nothing physically prevents a cyber criminal from enabling a foreign access point near your hotspot with a matching SSID, which invites customers to log in. Users that fall victim to the rogue AP are susceptible to a malicious code injection that often goes unnoticed.
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Planting Malware
Customers who join a guest wireless network are susceptible to unknowingly walking out with unwanted malware, delivered from bad-intentioned neighboring users. A common tactic used by hackers is to plant a backdoor on the network, which allows them to return at a later date to steal sensitive information.
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Eavesdropping
Guests run the risk of having their private communications detected, or packet sniffed, by nosey cyber snoops while on an unprotected wireless network.
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Data Theft
Joining a wireless network puts users at risk of losing private documents that may contain highly sensitive information to cyber thieves who opportunistically intercept data being sent through the network.
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Inappropriate and Illegal Usage
Businesses offering guest Wi-Fi risk playing host to a wide variety of illegal and potentially harmful communication. Adult or extremist content can be offensive to neighboring users, and illegal downloads of protected media leave the business susceptible to copyright infringement lawsuits.
Bad Neighbors
As the number of wireless users on the network grows, so does the risk of a pre-infected client entering the network. Mobile attacks, such as Android’s Stagefright, can spread from guest to guest, even if victim zero is oblivious to the outbreak.
Protect Yourself With:
Best-in-Class Security There is no room for average and outdated technology when it comes to securing your wireless network. WatchGuard runs all wireless traffic exclusively through best in class UTM services to protect against a wide range of threats including Advanced Persistent Threats. Network Visibility On average, attacks on your network take months to detect. WatchGuard customers gain 20/20 vision through Dimension, the cloud-ready logging platform. Armed with over 100 real-time dashboards and reports, IT pros can uncover wireless threats to the network before they become a problem. Flexible Management Human error is a leading cause of network breaches. Your IT team needs security tools that are easy to install and maintain. All WatchGuard Firebox products contain a built-in wireless controller, which creates a seamless integration of both wired and wireless network security.
Problems Across Key Industries
Retail
Whether a transaction is over a wired or wireless network, organizations that accept credit cards have a responsibility to secure the storage and transmission of cardholder data. Retailers need to stay in compliance with evolving PCI DSS standards, while at the same time maintaining a public Wi-Fi hotspot. View Details
Hospitality
Many large hotel chains have recently been victimized by breaches in their PMS or POS system, resulting in fines, lawsuits, and damage to their reputation. A major challenge for organizations in the Hospitality Industry is finding a way to offer high speed Wi-Fi, while at the same time protecting both their guests and corporate resources. View Details
Healthcare
The Healthcare Industry has unique wireless security challenges brought on by the highly sensitive and highly valuable nature of the data being exchanged on the network. Access to customer and patient data over mobile devices offers huge gains in efficiency, while simultaneously increasing exposure unless strong security measures are put in place. View Details
Education
Mobile devices are transforming education. Tablets are issued by schools at all grade levels, and students need high speed wireless access to abundant web-based educational resources. But accessing this wealth of knowledge doesn’t come without risks. View Details
