Employee’s love them, Network Administrators hate them, the advent of more function packed handheld devices have sparked a re-evaluation of the threat these small devices pose. Traditionally, networks were quite safe for to gain access to it you needed to be hooked up to the network, physically with a LAN cable. Now that the shift to wireless has become the network engineer’s best friend the network has surely been simplified and companies are switching to the new technology. Thy no longer needed wires and all existing computers are either replaced with ones that support Wi-Fi or bought individual dongles that allowed connection within the office. That was still an easy security agenda for they usually had a range of a couple of hundred feet.

Then came wireless internet hotspots which commercial developers started to put up to get more workers out of the office into their shops allowing them to work while, say having coffee. That’s where the problems began for the more office correspondence left the walls of the office, the more harder was it to secure. VPN’s were implemented that allowed a secure channel within existing networks making it a bit better. But that was still quite vulnerable to attack and security experts needed a better way of securing corporate data where-ever the user might be. Projections by business and security analysts estimate volume to increase to 100 million email transactions to and from outside the office locations that is still causing nightmares as the next step is found in the drive to secure this network without physical bounds.

[tags]Handheld Computing, Mobile Computing[/tags]

Tags: hackers, internet, security, Vulnerabilities, Wireless

Categories: Cryptography, General, IM, IT Security Basics, Instant Messaging, Network Security, News, Real-World Issues, Security Policies, Wireless Security

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The wireless revolution has fast taken over the world with more and more people opting for the convenience of not being tied to a specific place due to …. what else wires. This revolution was brought about by the first and primitive beginnings of the garage door openers, cellular phones and many more. The technology has proven to be a very successful one, but like many new technologies they do have problems and detractors who say it is too much a risk to go wireless.

True to this, many fear of the amount of information that is simply just being transmitted for anyone with the right equipment and know-how to grab and use for personal gains. Yes there are security programs, certificates and other proven authentication systems out on the market that do allow secure and safe computing without wires but they have a long way to go to provide a foolproof way of doing it. Radio waves are invisible yet present all around us and is a form of radiation however minute or insignificant the amount may be. To this effect, many schools have dismantled wireless networks that were hastily put up without extensive health risk studies. This was done for wireless equipment saves schools and other enterprises from having to hardwire data ports anywhere a connection to the school network or internet is needed(copper wires are very expensive and so is the installation costs). Another study by the Health Physics Society and the WHO shows more proof and information regarding the said effects of the technology on the human body.

So till we get to understand the phenomenon better and try to reduce the risks with improvements better be cautious( Not to totally avoid all wireless technology based products) and use common sense in the use and purchase of such equipment.

Tags: Health-Risks, internet, Wireless

Categories: General, News, Real-World Issues

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