New Wireless = New Vulnerabilities = More Incidents?
Most folks are looking at what's coming in 2008. Heck, let's go a bit further and look at some potentially big changes slated for 2009!
I just read an interesting Business Week story, "Just Ahead: A Wider Wireless World."
In February, 2009 analog television broadcasting will be terminated.
Converting to digital TV "will free up space now occupied by UHF channels 52 to 69. A chunk is being turned over to police and fire departments, and the rest will be auctioned off in January, 2008."
The article lists the 3 major impacts of this change:
1) "it increases the total bandwidth available for wireless networks."
2) "the relatively low frequency—around 700 MHz—penetrates buildings well. That means it will work as an alternative to cable or DSL Internet service to homes as well as for mobile phones."
3) "the Federal Communications Commission will require the buyers of a large piece of the spectrum to give customers much greater freedom in their choice of devices than carriers have traditionally allowed."
I know very little about the intricacies of wireless technology. However, wouldn't impacts 1) & 2) indicate that current wireless security practices will need to be improved?
Most of the CISOs I've talked with have counted on the general difficulties of their internal facilities wireless networks to be accessed from outside the walls of their buildings to be a security control for preventing wireless network access from interlopers on the streets.
Won't this change mean that CISOs will need to add more security to their wireless networks to prevent easier eavesdropping? Or, at the very least, should't they do a risk assessment to see the potential impacts?
Seems like it would be a good idea to do before February 2009 rolls around.
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