How to avoid wireless devices from being a threat

BANGALORE, INDIA: A recent survey finds that an average employee uses at least three wireless devices, such as laptops, mobile devices, headphones, etc in a typical office environment. This eases out work environment; however, they also expose corporate networks and make them vulnerable to various security threats.

Matthias Machowinski (directing analyst, Enterprise Voice and Data) and Jeff Wilson (principal analyst, Security) from Infonetics Research show how to equip corporate networks in such a situation.

Also Read: Mobile security can dominate 2011: Narus

CIOL: One emerging issue for many enterprises' wireless networks is radio management challenge as the number of access points and wireless clients grow. How can this be addressed?

Matthias Machowinski: There have been a number of RF management improvements (e.g., Cisco CleanAir, Aruba Spectrum Analysis, etc) made over the past year to address this issue.

It typically involves a management platform and network sensors, which can be embedded in APs or deployed standalone. They scan the network and allow you to identify and mitigate the source of problems (e.g., interference, bandwidth hog, etc).

CIOL: Do you see a scenario wherein wireless networks will replace office LANs soon?

Matthias Machowinski: The potential is always there for certain scenarios (greenfields, historical buildings, user populations with high Wi-Fi usage); however, one barrier is that the LAN is used to power IP endpoints, specifically IP phones and that makes the LAN still very much relevant.

CIOL: Can you list out the best practices to improve enterprise wireless networks?

Matthias Machowinski: Site survey to determine where coverage is needed; think about applications to determine bandwidth requirements; if access is critical, invest in management tools to deal with the problems.

CIOL: Are iPhones, iPads, Androids, and other mobile devices secure enough for enterprise?

Jeff Wilson: Whether mobile devices are "secure enough" is up to each enterprise in question. The more important point though, is, whether they are "secure enough" or not, most enterprises have iPhones, Android phones, iPads, and other mobile devices on their networks.

In this regard the companies need to:

* Take inventory of mobile devices. Find out what devices they have purchased and deployed, and what (and how many) user-purchased devices are on the network.

* Inventory gives a sense of the scope of the problem; only a few devices will have issue. All iPhones will have a very different solution than thousands of mobile devices with 5+ platforms recommended.

Regardless, the next step is to build a policy about deployment and use of mobile devices. Policy should cover acceptable use, risk exposure, use of applications on mobile devices etc.

* Once you have the policy in place, go about finding technology solutions to help implement the policy. This could include:

*Anti-virus software for mobile devices.

* Device management software that allows you to locate and remote wipe lost or stolen devices.

* Encryption software and protection for removable storage on mobile devices.

* Centralized (gateway or in the cloud) active security for mobile devices.

* VPN software

* Inform users of the policy. If you're allowing user-devices, give them clear information about acceptable behaviour and also give them instructions for getting the right software installed on their devices.