Tony Evans from Wick Hill (part of the Nuvias Group) highlights the risks of Wi-Fi and provides some advice for delivering a secure hotspot.
Today, Wi-Fi is on the top of the list of must-haves for businesses of all types and sizes. People will simply vote with their feet if good and, usually free, Wi-Fi is not available.
But this demand for anytime, anyplace connectivity can mean that some of us are prepared to jump onto Wi-Fi hotspots at cafes, hotel, airports or company guest networks, with only a fleeting consideration of security – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by cyber criminals. There are over 300,000 videos on YouTube alone explaining how to hack Wi-Fi users with tools easily found online.
Risks from unprotected Wi-Fi:
Wi-Fi Password Cracking
Wireless access points that still use older security protocols such as WEP, make for easy targets because these passwords are notoriously easy to crack. Hotspots that invite us to log in by simply using social network credentials are increasingly popular, as they allow businesses to use demographic information such as age, gender and occupation to target personalised content and advertisements.
Eavesdropping
Without encryption, Wi-Fi users run the risk of having their private communications intercepted, or packet sniffed, by cyber snoops while on an unprotected network.
Rogue Hotspots
Cyber criminals can set up a spoof access point near your hotspot with a matching SSID that invites unsuspecting customers to log in leaving them susceptible to unnoticed malicious code injection. In fact, it is possible to mimic a hotspot using cheap, portable hardware that fits into a backpack or could even be attached to a drone.
Planting Malware
There are common hacking toolkits to scan a Wi-Fi network for vulnerabilities, and customers who join an insecure wireless network may unwittingly walk away with unwanted malware. 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.
Data Theft
Joining an insecure wireless network puts users at risk of losing documents that may contain sensitive information. In retail environments, for example, attackers focus their efforts on extracting payment details such as credit card numbers, customer identities and mailing addresses.
Inappropriate and Illegal Usage
Businesses offering guest Wi-Fi risk playing host to a wide variety of illegal and potentially harmful communications. Adult or extremist content can be offensive to neighbouring users, and illegal downloads of protected media leave the businesses susceptible to copyright infringement lawsuits.
Best practices
There are established best practices to help secure your Wi-Fi network, alongside a drive, from companies such as WatchGuard, to extend well-proven physical network safeguards to the area of wireless, providing better network visibility to avoid blind spots.
Implementing the latest WPA2 Enterprise (802.1x) security protocol and encryption is a must, while all traffic should, at a minimum, be inspected for viruses and malware, including zero day threats and advanced persistent threats.
The use of strong passwords, which are changed frequently, should be encouraged, along with regular scanning for rogue Access Points (Aps) and whitelisting MAC addresses, when possible.
It is clear that Wi-Fi is here to stay and is becoming much more than simply a way to get online. While the rapid speed of Wi-Fi adoption has led to a disconnect between physical and wireless security, this is now changing and there is no longer any excuse for providing insecure Wi-Fi.
