Firms Wep up security nightmare

Basic wireless encryption standards lull companies into false sense of security, warns survey

Basic wireless encryption standards have lulled UK firms into a false sense of security, with many relying on the Wireless Encryption Privacy (Wep) standard, according to a survey commissioned by SonicWall.

The research found 28 per cent of firms have implemented wireless infrastructures, while 40 per cent plan to do so by 2005, using Wep as the security standard rather than technologies such as virtual private networks.

The channel opportunity to provide security advice is clear, claimed Neil Rickard, research director at Gartner. He warned firms should introduce policies to govern the use of wireless, preventing employees from setting up insecure rogue access points.

"Security is still a concern, but the biggest danger isn't enterprise deployment but deployment by an end-user," he said. "The best way to stop this is to put a wireless Lan in place so users don't feel the need to set up their own."

Mike Smart, European product manager at SonicWall, said: "Relying on Wep or banning wireless usage is not enough to guarantee network integrity."

The survey also found 802.11b wireless connections are about to be superseded by 802.11g.