WIFI SECURITY

Wifi Security

Wifi Security

Abstract

Leaving wifi networks unprotected is like leaving your office door open after hours, so put safeguards in place. In many ways, the mortgage market is about the little guy. Despite the severity of the economic downturn, plenty of small to medium sized brokers have lasted by toughing it out. To survive, many small businesses have downsized and reduced costs in any area they can. Unfortunately, in this climate of squeezed budgets, data protection can often be overlooked. A simple measure such as wifi security is a case in point.

Keywords

Wifi, technology, authentication, security, economic impact, networking protocol, commands

Introduction

Leaving wifi networks unprotected is like leaving your office door open after hours, so put safeguards in place in many ways, the mortgage market is about the little guy. Despite the severity of the economic downturn, plenty of small to medium sized brokers have lasted by toughing it out. To survive, many small businesses have downsized and reduced costs in any area they can. Unfortunately, in this climate of squeezed budgets, data protection can often be overlooked. A simple measure such as wifi security is a case in point. It is easy to overlook it when you are thinking about cost management, but wifi networks contain sensitive corporate and consumer data like leaving your office door open after working hours. Google got into trouble recently for the way it secretly harvested personal data from wifi networks to build its Street View application.

Subtitles

In 2010 the internet giant acknowledged that its Street View cars, whose prescribed purpose was to use radio antennae to help establish the locations of Google users and map wireless access points, mistakenly collected personal payload data. This included passwords, internet use history, email, text messages and other personal information from home wifi networks. Google blamed the violation on one rogue engineer but recent investigations suggest the company knew more about the data collection than it first let on. It revealed that the coder in question, 'Engineer Doe', had informed several members of the Street View team about the capabilities of his software code. Originally, the Federal Communications Commission was unable to fully resolve the case because Engineer Doe cited his Fifth Amendment right and refused to talk (Andy, 2012 Pp. 1-2).

Discussion

It ruled that Google had not violated any wiretapping laws and let the company off with a fine and slap on the wrist. Now privacy watchdogs, consumers and a coalition of more than 40 state attorneys are all clamoring for further investigation into this breach. Data thieves could use the same tactic to steal brokers' data. Times are tough, and the costs of running a business quickly add up. But do not be tempted to overlook wifi security. It could lead to loss of data on a huge scale (Roman et al 2008 Pp. 1-3).

Of all small to medium sized firms that suffer serious data breaches, only 30% survive in the long term. The killer is the damage to a broker's reputation caused by data ...