Wireless security and user attitude in SOHO environments

Abstract

Wireless telecommunications networks have been one of the outstanding success stories over the last decade or so. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are reaching the same success in a very short time.[1] Corporate and home users are avoiding the expenses and delays associated with installing wired networks.Many factors have contributed to their popularity and success, the low cost of wireless equipment, and the portability they offer. WLAN provides great mobility and flexibility but it also poses security risks that must not be overlooked.[2] The evolution of the wireless market has involved a growing attention towards security issues in wireless networks, both home networks and public networks.This is the reason why numerous novice users start to use such wireless technologies. However, the great majority of users is unaware of the real security issues. At the time of writing there is no recorded study of user attitude and knowledge about securing wireless SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) environments. This study has the goal to feel this gap through a quantitative and qualitative study. The author has been studying the difficulties and the problems novice users’ computer have in installing , configuring and understanding the overall security policy of a Wireless Local Area Network. The research results reveals many of the behaviors, expectations and states of awareness among novice users towards the most common security threats, in a SOHO WLAN environment.The effort of this research has the goal to show a problem: the user satisfaction is related mostly with the perceived importance of certain technical issues more than a complete understanding of the related problem. My research also revealed that wireless security is one of the most misunderstood aspects of wireless technologies. The biggest misconception is that a strong security mechanism is all that needed.This study concludes that wireless equipment manufacturers can contribute to the overall security by providing simple security oriented user interfaces and by keeping the equipment’s firmware updated to latest standards.