how la accounting firms are securing wireless networks (slideshare)

How LA Accounting Firms

Are Securing Wireless Networks

Courtesy of FPA Technology Services, Inc.

http://www.TechGuideforLACPAs.com

http://www.techguideforlacpas.com/

Sponsored by http://www.TechGuideforLACPAs.com

Craig PollackFounder & CEO

While making every effort

to ensure your applications

are easily accessible to

your staff (and increasing

their productivity),




it’s equally, if not more

important to ensure that

the information on your

network is safe and secure




You can’t be too careful when

it comes to locking down your

Wireless Local Area Network,

or WLAN




Hardware, such as

Wireless Intrusion Prevention

Systems (WIPS) and encryption

application software




are just a couple

of the safeguards you can

put in place when securing

wireless networks




If you have a wireless access

point, or set of them in your

office, and need to have some

users accessing the network

via Wi-Fi,




at a minimum make sure

you have a secure password

in place




A guest wireless network

is a good practice, and hiding

any corporate wireless network

from rogue scanning hardware

is a great idea as well




If you are a wireless technology

newbie, you might look at

the litany of acronyms and

want to keep your network

PCs hardwired forever




Here are but a few of the

acronyms:




• WEP – Wired Equivalent

Privacy




• 802.11 and EAP – A wireless

protocol (standard) and

Extensible Authentication

Protocol




• WWANs – Wireless Wide Area

Networks




• WPANs – Wireless Personal

Area Networks




• WPA and WPA2 – Wi-Fi

Protected Access and

Wi-Fi Protected Access 2,

the current standard




Wireless security devices and

encryption apps are a start,




however workstations should

be configured for Anti-Virus

and Anti-Malware software,

and employees should

continue be vigilant against

opening attachments




or responding to emails which

are suspicious and might be

possible phishing attempts

(especially during tax season)




Wireless Intrusion Prevention

Systems (WIPS) are ideal

defenses to implement, and

available from companies like:




• SonicWALL




• Cisco




• Symantec




• Airtight Networks




• Aruba Networks




WIPS systems can identify

rogue devices accessing

your network and shut

their access down




If you close down your office

over the weekend, you might

want to consider turning off

your gateway over

the weekend,




or as mentioned before, hiding

the network entirely




Two factor authentication

(something you know, like a

password, as well as something

you have, like a cellphone/

SMS message)




is becoming a popular way

of accessing Wireless Networks

instead of a password




Accounting firm managers

should remember, it’s not just

the data on your network,




but the usage of your network

in general which can leave

your company at risk




What systems or policies

has your firm put in place for

securing wireless networks?




Have you experienced a loss

of client data or been exposed

to malware on your wireless

local area network?




When was the last time

you had a security assessment

performed on your WLAN?




Tell us about it in the

Comments section below


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