Cyber Defense eMagazine January Edition for 2022

Of course, these recommendations are just a start. And they mostly provide best practices for individuals
who are on the move. Securing connections for workers in the office or at places they work from regularly,
like a home office, is a bigger challenge.
Unfortunately, many small and medium-sized businesses grapple with the complexities of managing
network security and Wi-Fi, just as larger organizations do. It can often be the Achille’s heel of IT, and a
cost burden (especially when it breaks). Case in point: the 2007 TJX breach, in which a poorly secured
Wi-Fi network at a single store was compromised by a hacker to gain access to sensitive data for the
entire corporation. As many as 200 million credit card numbers belonging to T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Home
Goods and A.J. Wright customers were stolen, with estimates of financial damage to the company
exceeding $1 billion.
The challenges of good Wi-Fi security have led many companies to consolidate secure Wi-Fi
management through unified security platforms, which is creating a growing demand for Managed
Security Service Providers (MSSPs). A recent MarketsandMarkets report found that Wi-Fi-as-a-service
is expected to be a $8.4 billion market by 2025 ($5 billion more than in 2020).
But why do unified security platforms need secure Wi-Fi? Most organizations understand the value of Wi-
Fi security, but stumble when it comes to implementation. They often do not realize just how simple it is
to manage, resulting in poor execution. As cyber threats continue to grow and become increasingly more
sophisticated, it is more apparent than ever that security is just not effective unless done at scale.
Traditional solutions do not provide the automation, clarity and control, comprehensive security,
operational alignment, and shared knowledge necessary to face today’s ever-evolving threat landscape.
As a result, secure Wi-Fi is a critical component of comprehensive network security, as are layered
services such as advanced endpoint protections, multi-factor authentication and more. Replacing
traditional Wi-Fi solutions with more advanced infrastructure that leverages a unified approach and a
cloud platform helps to automate and speed service delivery of secure Wi-Fi. With centralized
management capabilities, IT teams (or MSPs) can quickly access important data like utilization, signal
strength coverage and wireless client bandwidth consumption across their entire Wi-Fi deployment. They
can also quickly pinpoint failures and irregularities, and even interrupt device network access when
necessary. It also makes it easier for organizations to manage and customize any captive portals they
may have.
WatchGuard is committed to helping MSPs and organizations modernize and expand security by offering
scalable, unified security platforms with Secure Wi-Fi. To learn more about Wi-Fi in WatchGuard Cloud,
take a look here.
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