A recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research for the WiFi Alliance has revealed that 97% of surveyed WiFi users believe that the data on their devices and networks is “safe and secure”. However, when questioned further about various steps taken to secure their WiFi networks or devices, respondents received an overall score of 66%, indicating that large numbers of WiFi users are still living with false sense of security, and they are not actually as safe as they could be while using WiFi networks or devices.
Referring to the survey data, Kelly Davis-Felner, the marketing director of the WiFi Alliance said: "We are very pleased to see the increase in security awareness and a rise in some of the basic protection measures such as locking down the home network."
With growing use of WiFi by people for mobility in their daily lives, the survey results pointing toward increased basic awareness about WiFi security are really encouraging. This can be attributed to some big and several small-scale security breaches (linked with WiFi insecurity) that have happened in recent years and caught good media attention. The breaches acted as an eye-opener for a large section of WiFi users. Also, the availability of a large number of online features and articles on WiFi security risks and measures helped tremendously in spreading the security awareness among WiFi users.
However, meeting only the basic criteria (such as locking down the home WiFi) is not enough for users to ensure adequate protection against WiFi security breaches. Taking note of this fact, the marketing director further said: "But consumers can and should do more to protect themselves. We encourage users to put their knowledge into practice and take a few additional steps to more effectively protect themselves at home and on the go."
Understanding the fact that responsibility for the security of their data lies with them, WiFi users must take these extra steps/precautions to remain immune to WiFi-based attacks, which have become more sophisticated and easier to launch in recent times.
Most of these extra steps are simple to remember and can be easily followed (even by “non-tech-savvy” users), such as configuring WPA2 security on your WiFi network, using a VPN connection while connected to a hotspot, turning off automatic sharing on devices, connecting to known and trusted WiFi network when on the go, and creating a strong WiFi network password (at least 8 characters with mix of upper and lower case letters and symbols).
Once in practice, few extra steps toward WiFi security will ensure that users can enjoy WiFi convenience for their mobility needs without any fear of security breaches.