Businesses that fail to secure their WiFi networks are taking a huge risk, and one that could prove catastrophic. In this article we explain why WiFi security is so important and cover the main WiFi filtering security benefits for businesses.
What are the Consequences of Poor Cybersecurity?
Customers often feel loyal to a particular brand. The company gives them what they want, the prices are reasonable, the quality of products/services are good. One of the most important factors influencing customer loyalty is trust in a brand. If trust in a brand is lost, it can be difficult win customers back. They may be permanently lost. Those customers then speak to their friends and colleagues and word spreads and further business can be lost.
One of the easiest ways to lose the trust of customers is a data breach. Ask customers why they love a particular brand, and “The company keeps my data safe” will not make the top ten list. That said, if a company experiences a data breach, customers will leave in droves.
Some industries are more prone to high customer churn rates following a data breach than others. The healthcare and insurance industries do experience customer loss, but many breach victims are tied to those providers and leaving is not straightforward. The banking and retail industries on the other hand see high churn rates. There is usually plenty of choice and customers explore other options after a breach.
A study of 10,000 consumers by Gemalto in November 2017 showed 70% of customers would stop doing business with a company after a data breach. Could your business cope with an overnight loss of 70% of your customers?
Further, the cost of a data breach report revealed the average cost of a data breach has now risen to $3.86 million. A 70% loss of customers and a $3.86 million data breach bill would prove catastrophic for many businesses. It is therefore no surprise that the National Cyber Security Alliance reports that 60% of SMBs go out of business within 6 months of a data breach.
Defense in Depth is Essential
The Gemalto study found that 62% of consumers felt that a company that holds their data is responsible for security, highlighting the importance customers place on the privacy of their data.
For businesses, ensuring systems and data are kept secure can be a major challenge. The only way to meet that challenge is through defense in depth. A range of cybersecurity solutions are required to secure systems and data, block cyberattacks, and prevent data breaches.
The best place to start is by performing a risk assessment to highlight all potential risks to your systems and data. Consider all possible ways that an attack can occur, assess the risk of each, and develop a risk management plan to address those risks, addressing the highest risk areas first.
While many companies implement a host of network and email security solutions, one area of security that is often overlooked is the WiFi network, even though WiFi poses a considerable risk, not only to the business but also to customers that are allowed to connect to the WiFi network. Some of the important WiFi filtering security benefits are detailed in the section below.
Important WiFi Filtering Security Benefits for Businesses
There are many WiFi filtering security benefits for businesses. Implementing a WiFi filter will not only improve security for the business and its customers, it can also help to improve the productivity of the workforce.
Some of the most important WiFi security benefits are detailed below:
Block Malware and Ransomware Downloads
One of the most important WiFi filtering security benefits for businesses is protection from malware and ransomware downloads. Malware allows hackers to steal customer data, intellectual property, and obtain credentials to plunder corporate bank accounts. Malware infections can prove incredibly costly to resolve and ransomware attacks can bring businesses to a grinding halt. A WiFi filter help improve security by blocking access to sites hosting exploit kits and preventing drive-by malware downloads.
Prevent WiFi Users from Visiting Phishing Websites
Phishing is a major risk for all businesses. While most phishing attacks start with an email, they invariably link to websites that harvest credentials. A WiFi filter ensures that employees and guest users cannot access websites known to be used for phishing.
Stop Users from Accessing Illegal Website Content
Businesses have a responsibility to ensure that their WiFi networks cannot be used to access illegal content such as child pornography or to perform copyright-infringing file downloads. In addition to the potential for these actions to lead to legal problems for employers, these illegal online activities increase the risk of a malware infection.
Prevent Users from Accessing Inappropriate Websites
Businesses should take steps to prevent employees and guest WiFi users from accessing inappropriate websites – Websites that have no work purpose and those that are likely to cause offense to other individuals – adult content for example. Inappropriate internet use is a major drain of productivity and poses a security risk.
Other Important WiFi Filtering Benefits
All companies must take steps to reduce legal liability and employee Internet access is one area where companies can experience legal problems. Web content that seems funny to some employees could be highly offensive to others and lead to the creation of a hostile working environment and subsequent legal action by employees. Any company that fails to block illegal online activities such as copyright-infringing downloads, could be found to be vicariously liable for the actions of its WiFi users.
Businesses can use a WiFi filter to control bandwidth use. By blocking access to bandwidth heavy activities such as video streaming at busy times, business can ensure all users can enjoy fast Internet speeds.
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi: WiFi Filtering Made Simple
Gaining the above WiFi filtering security benefits is easy with TitanHQ’s innovative WiFi filtering solution – WebTitan Cloud for WiFi.
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi is easy to implement, simple to use, and effortless to maintain. WebTitan Cloud for WiFi allows businesses to carefully control Internet access, reduce risk, make important productivity gains, and improve their security posture.
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi can be implemented in minutes, requires no hardware purchases and needs no software downloads. An intuitive user interface can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection and no technical skill is required to configure and maintain the solution.
WebTitan Cloud for WiFi allows business of all sizes to gain the WiFi filtering security benefits with no slowing of Internet speeds.
WebTitan WiFi Filtering Security Benefits
- Blocks access to web pages hosting malware
- Blocks ransomware, malware, virus, and botnet downloads
- Prevents employees and guests from accessing phishing websites
- Requires no user updates or patches
- Blocks the use of anonymizers
- Inspects all Internet traffic, including encrypted content
- Reports can be generated to show which employees are attempting to bypass filtering controls
- Policies can be created for different users, departments, or locations
- Different filtering controls can be set for employees and guest WiFi users
For further information on WebTitan Cloud for WiFi, details of pricing, to book a product demonstration, or to sign up for a free 14-day trial of the full solution, contact the TitanHQ team today.