How can I best secure my employee Wi-Fi network?

Your employee Wi-Fi network is convenient, but it can also be a potential vulnerability. Unsecured or poorly configured Wi-Fi networks can expose your business to various threats, especially data breaches if the Wi-Fi network and wired network are interconnected.

Essential Security Measures

Strong Passwords

• Complex Passwords: Complex passwords are a vital line of defense in cybersecurity. Encourage employees to use strong passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Regular Changes: Implement a policy for regular password changes to prevent unauthorized access. Typically, security experts recommend 90-day refreshes, up to 6 months.
• Password Managers: Consider using password managers to securely store and manage complex passwords.
  Network Segmentation

Network Segementation

• Guest Network: Create a separate guest network for visitors to isolate them from your internal network. These are Wi-Fi networks that are segmented from your main network so guests cannot access any resources besides internet access.
• Role-Based Access Control: Assign different levels of access to employees based on their roles and responsibilities.

Encryption

• WPA3: Use WPA3 encryption, the latest Wi-Fi security standard, to protect your network from attacks. This is a newer standard, most equipment in the market still uses WPA2. The base level requirement is to encrypt all wireless transmissions
• Hidden SSID: Hide the SSID (network name) to make it harder for unauthorized users to find your network.

Firmware Updates

• Regular Updates: Keep your router's firmware up-to-date to address security vulnerabilities and improve performance. Subscribe to your manufacturer's mailing list for support updates to get informed of new updates

MAC Address Filtering

• Authorized Devices: Allow only authorized devices to connect to your network by filtering based on their MAC addresses. Some regulatory bodies would require this. Despite its administrative overhead, this is a very strong method to prevent unauthorized access to the network.

Firewall

• Hardware Firewall: Implement a firewall to filter incoming and outgoing network traffic and protect against unauthorized access. If your budget allows, a firewall with a built-in IDS (Intrusion Detection System) will help to identify rouge devices on your wireless LAN.

Security Awareness Training:

• Phishing Prevention: Educate employees about the risks of phishing attacks and how to identify and avoid them. Your employees are, oftentimes, the last line of defense against compromise.
• Social Engineering: Train employees to be aware of social engineering tactics that may be used to gain unauthorized access. Verify all access requests that are made.

Additional Considerations

• Physical Security: Protect your router and network equipment from physical access to prevent tampering or theft. Most do this with a locked room, or by installing locking network racks.
• Monitoring and Logging: Enable logging to track network activity and identify potential security incidents.
• Regular Reviews: Conduct regular security audits to assess your network's vulnerabilities and identify areas for improvement.

By implementing these security measures and staying informed about the latest threats, you can significantly reduce the risk of your employee Wi-Fi network being compromised.