Posts Tagged ‘small business’

A guest author at InformIT has put together a list of 12 tips to consider when securing your small business wireless network. The list was put together by Eric Geier, author of WiFi Hotspots: Setting Up Public Wireless Internet Access, a book released as part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press.

The recommended 12 steps to a secure small business wi-fi network are:

1. Use WPA Encryption — preferably WPA2
2. Use the Enterprise version of WPA/WPA2
3. Secure Ethernet Ports
4. Use Extra Encryption (VPNs)
5. Don’t Connect to Other Networks
6. Separate Traffic with VLANs
7. Secure Shared Folders and NAS Devices
8. Verify Firewalls
9. Use MAC Address Filtering
10. Disable SSID Broadcasting
11. Keep Hardware Updated
12. Keep Wi-Fi Signals Contained

Learn more about these 12 steps here

Ars Technica has published a great article about Wireless Security. The article references their past work looking at wireless security, in both theory and practice.

The second piece of work they reference, The ABCs of Securing Your Wireless Network, is a very valuable piece of work. It sets out basic instructions on securing your wireless router and is geared more towards the non-tech crowd, rather than IT security experts. For small businesses, this is a great resource.

For other Wireless Security Basics, check out these other resources:

• Wireless Security: The Basics (CSO Online)
• Introduction to Wireless Network Security (About.com)

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Bruce Schneier has also announced that he has a new book of essays out called “Schneier on Security“. Bruce is a security expert I enjoy reading – his articles are insightful but also understandable.