I've seen more than one network manager take a hard line on wireless security while letting more significant network vulnerabilities go unaddressed, often because they weren't as visible. In these environments, wireless security is a no-compromise issue, the consequence of which is a search for the perfect, risk-free solution--one that doesn't, and may never, exist. That approach often leads to rogue departmental deployments that provide an even greater vulnerability. Stamping them out is as painful as it is expensive.
Wireless security demands careful juggling of technology, risk assessment and politics, and it demands more effective industry solutions. The standards are here. Now it's time to address implementation. While we do so, let's not ignore new challenges, including the provision of wireless guest access, that force us to re-examine the delicate balance between risk and responsiveness. Nobody is advocating unfettered access, but any solution that fails to focus on user needs is destined to fail, in the home or at work.
Dave Molta is Network Computing's senior technology editor. Write to him at [email protected]
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