NFIB

Secure Your Wireless
08/ 28/ 2002

by Michael Grebb

To be sure, the techie world of the new millennium makes it practically impossible for any entrepreneur--big or small--to be unreachable even for a short period. With personal digital assistants (PDAs) that combine features from phones and laptops in one compact device, wireless gadgetry has reached an unprecedented level of ubiquity and necessity. Clients these days seem to expect business people to resemble the Borg from Star Trek: Self-sufficient drones never disconnected from the hive of the central office.

Believe it or not, these trends can actually help small businesses. Although large companies once could overwhelm small competitors using expensive technology at their headquarters, the Internet and cheaper computing have conspired to level the playing field considerably. Add mobile Web access, and it only gets better for the small entrepreneur.

The latest trend is the proliferation of wireless "hotspots" that let travelers tap into the Internet or corporate networks through wireless local area networks (LANs) found at airports, coffee shops and other places that no longer provide solace from work. But while large corporations have deployed sophisticated security and installed secure virtual private networks (VPNs) to ensure that data flows are protected, resource-strapped small businesses often use hotspots without thinking about network security. That's a big mistake.

After all, the person sitting next to you at the airport could be a competitor. Software can easily sniff out the packets you're sending and intercept them right out of the air. It's far easier than trying to hack a wired connection. One security firm executive recently told me that an individual who had staked out the airport specifically to prey on unsuspecting travelers stole some passwords from a traveler using a wireless laptop modem but no firewall. Sufficed to say, after that incident, the person became a client.

Security experts have some pointers for hotspot users. For one thing, avoid sending any personal information, especially passwords, unless you see that little lock icon in the bottom of the screen. That indicates that you're sending data under secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, which is extremely difficult to break. In general, experts say it's better to first dial into a secure VPN (assuming you have one) and then use it as a tunnel through which you can browse the wider Internet. According to the experts, many hotspots are unprotected between the local router and the wireless device, meaning that anything traveling between those two points is potentially at risk.

Thankfully, that's changing. For example, Bluesocket, a company that sells wireless LAN equipment, now offers firewall protection for hotspot routers. And with PDAs increasingly able to access the Internet wirelessly, Israel-based Check Point Software recently launched what it's touting as the first VPN-based firewall designed specifically for PDAs using Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system (The OS of choice for corporate PDAs).

The bottom line is that you can benefit from a playing field newly leveled by wireless devices. But don't let that new feeling of liberation cloud your judgment. When it comes to wireless LANs, network security has never been so vital as the virtual office becomes a reality for everyone.

Grebb is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who focuses on technology and Internet issues.

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This article originally appeared in the August/September 2002 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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