Wireless Still Dangerous Despite the Reduced Hype

Wireless safety has commanded a large amount of attention in previous days, but recently the buzz has subsided. Yet, the security of wireless networks still remains an issue. This article discusses the vulnerabilities still prevalent in the wireless world.

Perhaps the major overall growth area in networking is wireless. Companies and consumers are putting more data on the air every day. Wireless safety still is a big issue, of course, but it doesn't seem to be getting quite as much hype as it was a year ago.

Safety at public hotspots rightfully gets the most attention. This vnunet.com piece, which reports on a study from Sophos, strongly suggests that a parallel problem is afoot. Insecure home networks, the piece says, are being illicitly used by outsiders. The study says that 54 percent of those surveyed admitted to illicitly horning into other folks' wireless service.

This would seem to be largely an ISP/consumer problem. The corporate angle is strong, however, for two reasons. One is that people store corporate data on their home computers, and it is vulnerable if the network isn’t protected. The other reason that this is worrisome is that a good portion of home PCs and MACs are connected, at least part of the time, to the corporate local-area network (LAN). Thus, the laziness or ignorance of home users can end up creating a big back door opportunity for hackers.

Perhaps the consumer media is beginning to revisit wireless security. A couple of articles have recently appeared in prominent places. BusinessWeek, in the form of a question from a reader about using Wi-Fi at trailer parks, gives a nice overview of the differences between the Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). USA Today has a similar instructional piece. That story - a bit longer than the BusinessWeek effort - discusses the importance of encryption, the dangers of evil twins and discourages people from doing sensitive things from a hot spot.

Like many other security issues, a little attention can go a long way. Indeed, there are four steps that can be taken with fairly little trouble that greatly enhance the security of a WLAN. They are outlined nicely in this post at Network Liquidators. The four steps: rename the Service Set Indentifier (SSID); stop it from broadcasting; enable media access control (MAC) filtering and encrypt.

Consumer Wi-Fi isn't the only potential trouble spot. Companies also face challenges in their use of wireless local-area networks (WLANs) internally. AirDefense, in a survey released last month, found that 85 precent of 2,500 wireless devices it scanned at 3,000 shops in the United States and Europe were not secure.

Wireless, of course, is here to stay. The glare of the consumer industry is fleeting, however. IT managers must worry about WLANs from a number of angles, whether the concerns are splashed across the front pages of newspapers or not.

Profit From The Technology Slope

You've probably noticed how rapidly current mediums of technology are changing. Traditional CDs & DVDs will be replaced by a new generation of digital media in a few years, and the progress of wireless technologies and internet enabled communication will make a number of communications technologies obsolete. The technology slope is accelerating at a record pace, and if a corporation is too specialized on a "ground-breaking" technology that can quickly become obsolete, that company will be left behind in the unforgiving market.

Here are some companies that may be left behind because of an obsolete technology:

1) XM Satellite Radio & Sirius Satellite Radio

The fundamental question is: Why do we need to go to outer space to access CD quality music? I think that the advent of internet radio will quickly make satellite radio obsolete. Neither major company expects to earn a profit until 2008 but by then I'd expect to access internet radio from my car. With the advent of broadband wireless technology that can span many miles and costs less than satellite, the usefulness of satelite transmitted data as used by these companies should decline greatly.

2) Netflix

CDs & DVDs are quickly being replaced by digital media that can be downloaded from a computer and by the new standard, Blu-Ray discs. iPods & mp3s are quickly replacing CDs and before long we will be able to download full length movies on your TV. With download speeds and bandwidth constantly increasing across the internet, the availability of full quality DVDs is within reach, and becoming moreso every day. Who wants to wait 2-3 days to watch a movie anyways? Netflix is in trouble unless they can change in a big way; distributing digital content through the mail is going the way of the dinosaur.

3) General Motors

Car manufacturing is a very expensive process, especially in the United States. Several automakers are taking big steps to increase the offshore presence to China, Vietnam, and Mexico. Meanwhile, General Motors continues to ramp up efforts in the United States. General Motors will continue to lose billions of dollars unless they can expand cost-cutting efforts to offshore manufacturing plants.

Keep in mind that you can profit in the stock market from shorting stocks, too. Selling a stock short is essentially betting that the particular stock falls in value. If the stock drops, you profit. I believe the three stocks above will fall drastically over the next decade unless they can turn things around in a big way.