Maybe nat'l safety requires mass Wi-Fi certification training

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JOANIE WEXLER ON WIRELESS IN THE
ENTERPRISE
09/26/05
Today's focus: Maybe nat'l safety requires mass Wi-Fi
certification training

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Wi-Fi and national security
* Links related to Wireless in the Enterprise
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Maybe nat'l safety requires mass Wi-Fi
certification training

By Joanie Wexler

Last month, Network World columnist Mark Gibbs stated that
people who operate unsecured Wi-Fi access points - whether they
are naïve consumers or beneficent communities - are putting
national security at risk
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir7508>. He asserted that if a
terrorist, for example, could get a message to Osama bin Laden,
in part via an open Wi-Fi network, that the owner of the
unsecured Wi-Fi connection was guilty of aiding and abetting the
enemy.

Wayne Caswell, a consultant with CAZITech Consulting and a
member of the Homeland Security Working Group of the FCC's
Consumer Advisory Committee, agrees with Gibbs. Caswell believes
that having an unprotected Wi-Fi network makes it more difficult
for FBI agents and others to track the location of terrorists.

"The FBI can only track usage to an AP," Caswell told me. "So a
terrorist can piggyback on an AP to communicate with colleagues.
Because you and your neighbors didn't protect your network,"
you're basically implicit in helping the bad guys, he says.

So let me get this straight. We innocently go about living our
lives, purchasing and using the goods marketed down our throats,
day in, day out, and suddenly we are to blame for the next
terrorist attack?

Don't get me wrong: I'm not advocating running unsecured APs,
particularly in your business or residence. But it's true that
the older products were required to ship with security disabled.
And your average consumer just isn't hip to the nuances of
802.11 technology and having to do something special to secure
it.

Perhaps technology is getting more advanced than the masses, and
it is simply too dangerous to put it in our hands before we've
all been trained and certified. If we really are abetting
terrorist forces by naively misusing complicated technology, it
would be safer for all concerned if we were required to present
proof of Wi-Fi certification training before being allowed to
purchase these products. (I see that Cisco has Wireless LAN
Design Specialist and Wireless LAN Support Specialist
certifications, for example.)

Consider these points:

* U.S. society is founded on open access to information. Anyone
not imprisoned can make a phone call or drop a letter in a
mailbox at will. If a letter makes it to bin Laden, is the U.S.
Postal Service to blame?

* There are a million and one ways a terrorist or anyone else
can get anonymous Internet access other than via Wi-Fi access
(secured or not) - drop into your local library or stop at a
kiosk, for example. It's also pretty easy to obtain a phony
identity.

* Finally, do we really think Homeland Security officials can
successfully track down terrorists by their Wi-Fi usage?

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. The rise of the IT architect
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir7035>

2. McAfee, Omniquad top anti-spyware test
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir6911>

3. Users discuss big VoIP rollout risks and rewards
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir7486>

4. New Firefox 1.0.7 release fixes critical security bugs
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir7585>

5. DemoFall preview <http://www.networkworld.com/nlwir7475>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Joanie Wexler

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology
writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most
of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer
networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles
published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future
article topics. Reach her at <mailto:joanie@jwexler.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by "Orative"
Reach Your Mobile Workforce

Orative develops mobile software that lets employees reach the
right resources, right now. Using innovative presence technology
running on mobile phones, Orative software gives employees the
ability to reach co-workers so that they can ask for help, make
decisions and move business forward. Orative transforms the
mobile phone into a true business phone. Find out more at
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=115571
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