Charges underline importance of wireless data security measures

The critical importance of security in wireless networks has been underlined by a recent legal action launched against a store chain in the US after the chain's lax data security led to a series of fraudulent purchases at other stores with counterfeit credit cards containing personal information that the chain had previously collected from the magnetic stripes of customers' credit cards.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc agreed to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges that it had failed to encrypt customer data transmitted or stored on its computers. Data was kept in files accessible using default passwords and the chain's wireless networks were insecure and insufficiently monitored. A number of financial institutions affected by the fraudulent transactions turned to the courts to recover losses.

"This case is a groundbreaker in legislation against companies who are providing insufficient security when dealing with customer records, especially credit card information and other personal data," says Philip Olejnik, Services Manager at the JSE-listed Square One Solutions Group, whose Business Solutions division is the South African value-added reseller for Aruba Wireless Networks, an international manufacturer of high-performance, high security, centralised wireless networks.

"Companies that are moving across to wireless networks are becoming increasingly exposed to vulnerabilities in network security. Aruba countered this by developing grid architecture solutions that deliver universal authentication with user-appropriate security policies on every wired port. The grid architecture enables ubiquitous wireless access but with the same high-level security policies being applied to any user."

Wireless LAN adapters, as a standard component in many laptop computers today, mean that company employees equipped with laptops bring wireless technology into the company whether it has a wireless LAN infrastructure or not. Because laptops with a configured default operating system will connect to any access point it can find inside or outside of the company network, trusted network interiors are being exposed to intrusions or data loss.

Olejnik says that for this very reason, Aruba's grid architecture includes RF sensors that identify and locate interior security threats. "Aruba's next-generation security architecture, embodied through wireless grids, has been designed with interior security top of mind. The BJ's case and the fact that many other major corporations in the US have admitted to data losses, has led to managements taking a very serious look at new security architectures."

He adds that it is not just the banking, financial services and retail sectors that face data security problems. There are other environments where data privacy is paramount, such as medical services, where patient records have to be well secured.