We’ve been talking a lot lately on how crucial it is for organizations to enable a Trusted Wireless Environment. Now that working remotely is our “new normal,” and not every company is able to send an AP225W wall plate access point home with everyone, we covered 5 tips that would keep remote workers safe and Wi-Fi hackers away in a previous blog, but here’s a refresher:
- Connect to your company’s network via VPN (virtual private network).
- Change the SSID (service set identifier) in your home cable model or router to ‘hide’ to keep Wi-Fi hackers away.
- Use a WPA2-, or if you can, WPA3-protected modem/router.
- Change the password to your Wi-Fi network frequently. Don’t use the default settings.
- Create a guest network for people in your household, so that they can connect to it without getting access to your company’s network.
Although these Wi-Fi tips will keep you and your loved ones safe, they won’t always protect you against the six known Wi-Fi threat categories.
- Rogue Access Point: Allows attackers to bypass perimeter security.
- Rogue Client: Delivers malware payloads to the network after connecting to malicious APs.
- Neighbor Access Point or Client Misassociation: Risks infection from connecting to other SSIDs while in range of the authorized AP.
- Ad-Hoc Network: Uses peer-to-peer connections to evade security controls and risk exposure to malware.
- “Evil Twin” Access Point: Lures users to connect to it so as to spy on traffic, steal data and infect systems.
- Misconfigured Access Point: Opens networks to attack as a result of configuration errors.
All these threats are not new and have been around since Wi-Fi went mainstream 21 years ago. But one thing that has remained the same and is so shocking to me – there are no security standards around Layer 2 Wi-Fi to keep Wi-Fi users like you and me safe. This is why I’m advocating for change. We all deserve to connect to Wi-Fi we can trust. I want to be able to connect to Wi-Fi at home or in my favorite coffee shop and not have to look around wondering if the person sitting next to me on their laptop is a hacker. Hackers prefer to go after Wi-Fi because it’s the weak link in the security chain and it doesn’t take much to hack into a Wi-Fi network.
So, what can we do today to help build the future of a secure Wi-Fi standard across the world? Everyone can join the Trusted Wireless Environment movement and advocate for global security standard for Wi-Fi. Visit www.TrustedWirelessEnvironment.com today! Every signature we collect will help us partner with organizations such as the Congressional Wi-Fi Caucus, WiFiForward, PCI Security Standards Council, Wi-FiNOW, IEEE, and Wi-Fi Alliance to name a few. These organizations help build security standards for businesses around the world and we want to join forces by collaborating with them to make this world a safer place.
Stay safe, everyone!
#TrustYourWiFi
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