With the advent of wireless networks and other technologies, we are increasingly exposing our data to the risk of theft and interception by third parties with nothing more than a notebook computer and some freely available tools, which can be acquired online.

Whilst most home users and many organizations are now aware of the security implications of having unsecured private networks, the truth is that not many are aware of the limitations and the vulnerabilities that exist with wireless communications.

Wireless networks using older encryption technology are easily attackable using brute force attack.  By snooping encrypted packets for long enough, potential intruders can extrapolate the encryption key and gain access to the network.

This means the whole network becomes compromised and as a direct result of poor encryption standards, e-mails and other communications can be intercepted with ease.

To secure wireless networks, it is recommended to ensure that more popular and recognized encryption protocols are used and that key strength is strong enough to mitigate the risks of brute force attack.

However, many networks can still be breached so it is important to ensure that networks offer multiple layers of protection.  One way of protecting data, file transfer and VOIP communications that occur on a wireless network is to ensure that third party encryption software is used that effectively ‘double-encrypts’ any sensitive data being broadcasted wirelessly.

This ensures not only that the information is secure, but also reduces the value of data which is sniffed off the air, as it is essentially worthless due to the fact it is encrypted.