23 Mar 2009

Many companies 'neglect security'

Many organisations are failing to identify potential security dangers associated with wireless local area networks (WLAN), an expert asserts.

Amit Sinha, chief technologist of Motorola Enterprise Wireless LAN, says many companies do not realise how vulnerable their networks are.

"They do not realise that there are misconfigurations in their WLAN, rogue WLAN devices and poor policy enforcement," he comments.

Mr Sinha adds that some firms are put off by the perceived cost of enforcing effective security measures, as the global recession causes budgets to be reduced.

In order to better protect themselves, businesses need to use a secure WLAN infrastructure, coupled with 24/7 monitoring and effective company-wide policy enforcement, the expert concludes.

A recent study conducted by the company reveals only 30 per cent of organisations currently use a wireless intrusion prevention system, with 51 per cent of firms not having a security policy enforced across the business.