Survey Finds Retail Wireless Networks Insecure

If the results of a recent study by AirDefense are to be believed, every time you use your credit card at a retail store you run a 50/50 chance that your credit card data and other information could be transported over an insecure and easily hacked wireless network. The problem is bigger than that though. The percentage of home wireless networks that are improperly secured is probably higher than 50%. When those home users log into their bank or credit card web sites to update their Quicken files, or access their eTrade.com accounts to buy and sell shares of the latest hot stock, they are also transmitting important, and sensitive information which can easily be intercepted by an attacker within range of their wireless access point. Oh, and just because you can't get your wireless signal to transmit from your living room to your bedroom, don't think an attacker can't get it. Network administrators and home users alike need to be more aware of wireless network security issues and how to enable encryption to protect their wireless data.