Wireless

The demand for wireless networks continues to grow as worker mobility and the prevalence of portable network devices such as laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs) increase. Within Australia and in key cities of the global economy, wireless hotspots and nodes are blanketing CBD areas with a mesh of invisible data as corporate institutions seek to ‘unwire’ their networks.

Wireless communications offer organisations and users many benefits including portability and flexibility, increased productivity, and lower installation costs. However, there are risks assocated with wireless technologies which must be fully considered as part of the overall cost/benefit analysis.

Wireless technology drastically reduces the effectiveness of physical security measures within an organisation. If poorly implemented and uncontrolled, wireless can result in the loss of confidentiality and integrity and the threat of denial of service (DoS) attacks.

For example, unauthorized users may gain access to the company's systems and information, corrupt the organisation’s data, consume network bandwidth, degrade network performance, launch attacks that prevent authorized users from accessing the network, or use organisation's resources to launch attacks on other networks.

With proper planning and configuration, wireless networking technology can provide all the convenience, availability and mobility that an organisation requires, without the need to compromise on security and place critical network infrastructure at risk.

SIFT can provide advice and assurance expertise in order to assist clients better plan, design, deploy and test a secure wireless network infrastructure. SIFT has extensive experience in secure wireless network design, threat mitigation strategies, device hardening and wireless network penetration testing.

For more information regarding Wireless, please contact us.

Further reading