Private 5G Network in Test Center from Siemens

Unified Communications, Network Security

Article | July 10, 2023

Wi-Fi and the Internet have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Because of the importance and convenience of a business Wi-Fi network, it is now a must-have service for most businesses. Unfortunately, numerous small-to-medium-sized businesses lack the resources and cyber skills required to appropriately secure their networks. This can be a major issue because an unsecured network exposes the company to attacks from hackers looking to steal valuable company information or customer data. How Can Businesses and IT Leaders Strengthen Their Wi-Fi Security? A data breach can cripple your business. It not only undermines consumer trust, but data breaches cost an average of $4.24 million. Fortunately, improving your Wi-Fi security is not difficult. To safeguard your company's wireless Internet connection, follow the steps outlined below. Use Up-To-Date Wi-Fi Encryption You should upgrade your hardware if it can only support WEP or WPA encryption. The Wi-Fi Alliance strongly encourages the widespread use of WPA2. Cutting-edge encryption has been demonstrated to be protected against even the most persistent attackers when correctly implemented. If you run an enterprise environment, you should take advantage of the extra security provided by specific digital certificates. Encrypt Wi-Fi Router Administration Pages Taking your Wi-Fi security a step further needs the use of a Wi-Fi digital certificate to secure your admin login pages. Self-signed certificates that come pre-installed on a few routers are untrusted, easy to copy, and prone to Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks. TLS certificates from reputable certificate authorities can ensure that all of your Wi-Fi connectivity is safe and confidential. If your router's quick start guide does not contain digital certificates, you can obtain information on the manufacturer's support page. Consider Restricting MAC addresses Smaller network managers can lock down MAC addresses for more control. Wireless routers and access points use MAC (Media Access Control) address filtering to block attacks. Every WiFi-enabled device has a unique MAC or physical address and a list of connected devices. You can manually enter addresses to define network access, but hackers can fake MAC addresses. Use Always-On SSL You must utilize HTTPS across your website and apply it to Wi-Fi. Accessing an account on an encrypted page and subsequently interacting with the site through unencrypted pages exposes the user to session-side jacking. Create a Guest AP with Tighter Security Not all businesses must enable guests or customers to connect to their networks, but some companies do offer guests access by providing them with guest login credentials. If your company falls into this category, set up a dedicated guest AP that is isolated from the rest of the company network. You can set up a second AP on your router and utilize a firewall to limit access from that AP to certain services that you want your visitors to be able to access. Closing Lines Nowadays, having an internet connection is critical for organizations, as is keeping it secure from hackers. Moreover, when conducting business, it is crucial to keep critical information and customer data secure. Otherwise, you risk compromising your company's image. So, if you want to maintain your Wi-Fi network security and keep your business working effectively, you must adhere to a few fundamental principles. Finally, you are on the path to make your Wi-Fi network safer and more robust by following all of these techniques at once or step by step.

Network Infrastructure, Network Management

Article | July 27, 2023

Despite the COVID-induced interruptions in the first half of 2020, 5G preparations and deployment continued in earnest in the second half of 2020 and now the market – vendors, CSPS, OEMs – are ready to bring 5G to the masses of users. The arrival of Apple’s first 5G devices in 4Q20 marked the tipping point of global consumer readiness, now extending from early-adopters. After the initial phase of network launches that saw coverage built-out in major urban centres, 5G service providers should now focus on expanding coverage to as many areas of high-data demand as possible. At the same time, as CSPs gauge their 5G roll-out strategies, they shouldn’t ignore rural areas with limited-to-no high-speed broadband coverage. In many markets, particularly developing ones, CSPs should carefully assess network-sharing as a way to cost-effectively tap pent-up demand, especially given the accelerating remote working trend.

5G

Article | September 28, 2023

Publicly available announcements on all telecom contracts started to see a slowdown in 2nd quarter of 2019 and dipped in the 2nd quarter of 2020. We believe there might be several factors that could lead to the slowdown in 2019. In transport networking, operators are assessing new deployment models that include virtualization and disaggregated platform and in wireless segment, 4G rollout has reached maturity and started to see decline while 5G rollouts have just started and at an early phase of evaluation. And obviously at the end of 2019, we are seeing a more distinct slowdown likely from the impact of COVID-19 on global business deals. CSP has been more cautious with spending due to the challenges and uncertainties from the pandemic. However, dynamics related to COVID-19 have on the other hand accelerated bandwidth consumptions and subsequently driven investments across all segments of the network as we start to see recovery in the number of contracts announcement in the recent few quarters.

Article | June 7, 2021

The next-generation of wireless technologies – known as 5G – is here. Not only is it expected to offer network speeds that are up to 100 times faster than 4G LTE and reduce latency to nearly zero, it will allow networks to handle 100 times the number of connected devices, revolutionizing business and consumer connectivity and enabling the “Internet of Things.” Leading policymakers – federal regulators and legislators – are making it a top priority to ensure that the wireless industry has the tools it needs to maintain U.S. leadership in commercial 5G deployments. This blog provides monthly updates on FCC actions and Congressional efforts to win the race to 5G.