The research, which was carried out by Z/Yen Limited, aimed to
quantify the extent to which companies' WLANs in London are
insecure, providing potential access to hackers from their car or a
nearby building.
According to the report, researchers were able to pick up
information from corporate wireless networks by simply driving
around the streets of London, using a handheld scanner.
The research identified that 63% of the networks surveyed were
left on default configuration, clearly identifying the company
owning the data and where it was coming from. According to the
report, researchers were even able to pinpoint exactly how many
wireless network access points and wireless enabled laptops a
business had.
The report claims that many businesses surveyed specifically
failed to:
- Effectively encrypt the data travelling across their wireless
networks, enabling hackers to simply pluck company secrets from the
air;
- Change default information on their systems which broadcast the
company's name, location and important technical information that
can allow hackers to crack any encrypted network;
- Secure wireless network access points, allowing hackers to set
up rogue access points to capture company information; and
- Secure data on wireless enabled laptops, allowing penetration
of local drives and company data.
These findings reveal, according to the report, that London
businesses are vulnerable to all kinds of malicious hacking
techniques, from eavesdropping on company secrets to computer
network disruption and the launch of denial of service attacks
using the cover of the unsuspecting company.
Although research on the same issue, commissioned by RSA
Security last year, found that 67% of London companies surveyed, as
compared to 63% this year, were unprotected, the firm believes the
problem is in fact bigger.
This is because, RSA Security claims, the number of WLANs
deployed in London businesses has now increased by 300%.
Tim Pickard, strategic marketing director at RSA Security
said:
"The threat to London's business has drastically worsened. We
have seen a proliferation of the use of wireless networks around
London, but the steps taken to secure these networks are still
woefully inadequate.
"The research shows that many organisations are now at least
encrypting their company data by securing wireless networks with
virtual private networks but the problem has shifted to other
areas."
