Information security is one of the most important things in corporate and business networks. A recent study by Air Tight Networks has shown that the financial districts of 6 cities in the US and in London actually have 57% of their networks on low security or have no security at all. Having made an Airport study during the previous year, they've concluded that these Wireless networks were running on Open or Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) access points which are very easy to break into. Only 11% of the surveyed networks had up to date Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) while the other 32% used WPA.

It is frightening to know that more than half of the networks in the financial part of the city is open to attack from hackers. The last major hacking incident in a retail clothing store in Minnesota involving the company TJX about 2 years ago caused the theft of 45.7 million credit and debit card information. The lawsuits and problems that ensued had banks incurred losses due to credit card fraud. One of the biggest electronic burglaries indeed. What company would not want to keep their networks secure? Keeping in mind that the world is in a state of financial crisis, the finance districts' network security is of the utmost importance.

According to the data compiled by Air Tight's study, more than a third of the wireless networks using Open or WEP security in this district use enterprise grade access points while the rest a home/SOHO grade machines which security groups cannot regulate and apply security standards to. A good thing to know is that 87% of wi-fi clients were not infected or breached by viruses or other means of intrusion. Nevertheless One is wondering about the remaining 13% set to adhoc mode and mindlessly connects to available networks and is prone to wi-phishing or may just be the sacrificial honeypot for hackers to go into.

Hopefully businesses, companies, and most of the finance district's security issues will improve over time as more and more companies learn to handle complex security issues concerning wireless networks better. Then they can start reaping the benefits of having secure corporate network.