Many wireless Lans still open to attack, security experts warn
Wireless local area network (Lan) deployment in London has rocketed but most businesses continue to leave their network open to hackers, security experts have warned.
According to the second annual report of wireless Lan research commissioned by security firm RSA Security, wireless deployment has grown by 300 per cent. But levels of security have failed to improve.
Using a handheld scanner, researchers were able to pick up information from company wireless networks simply by driving around the streets of London.
Following the same procedure and route as last year, the research identified that 63 per cent of the networks surveyed were left on default configurations, which clearly identified the company owning the data and allowed it to be traced.
Last year 67 per cent of London companies with wireless networks were unprotected from cyber-crime attack.