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AirTight Finds Good News and Bad News for Wireless Security Best Practices at RSA 2008 Key Findings Reveal WPA Usage Very High, Viral SSID Infection Also Very Prevalent and a Potential Honeypot San Francisco, CA - April 9, 2008 - At RSA 2008, AirTight® Networks, the global leader for wireless vulnerability management, today issued the findings from its wireless vulnerability assessment of the airspace at the event.  The good news is that AirTight security researchers found the use of WPA and WPAv2 encryption much higher (50%) than AirTight has found in its scans of other venues, such as airports worldwide. The bad news is that the percentage of viral SSID infection is higher than what AirTight found in its recently released airport studies – close to fifteen percent. “RSA is one of the largest gatherings of security professional in the world so it is surprising to still find these professionals are not following best practices for wireless connectivity” said David King, chairman and CEO of AirTight. “It appears more than one or two out of ten attendees is infected by viral Wi-Fi SSID which is alarming.” AirTight also noted that the conference has an official WiFi site called “rsa2008peap” but researchers spotted another unofficial site called “FREE-RSA-WIFI”, which is a potential Honeypot that could be luring attendees to it. AirTight security researchers found attendees: Are infected with viral SSIDs (10% to 15%) and spreading them to others. Are using APs with out-of-the-box default configuration at either home or work. Are not cleaning up profiles after using hotspot Wi-Fi networks Are unknowingly leaking their identity The top ten active ad-hoc viral infections observed at RSA on the first day of the event were: Free Public WiFi Hpsetup Guest Internet Access Free Internet Access fwf60b-public Hotel WIFI Internet Oasis (FREE) US Airways Free WiFi Wireless Network BelleAire In its continuing series of studies, AirTight has set out to understand the risks to business travelers and their corporate networks of data leakage. Specifically at RSA, AirTight wanted to assess the wireless vulnerability exposure of Wi-Fi users at RSA 2008 and to assess adoption of wireless security best practices by this sophisticalted group of conference attendees. How the study was conducted AirTight performed ongoing scans of Wi-Fi signals throughout the day at randomly selected locations in and around the RSA (exhibition floor and convention center). The total number of APs found was 92 and 441 Clients. If you would like to speak to an AirTight security researcher, please contact Della Lowe at 650-934-8191 (office) or 650-868-5829 (mobile). About AirTight Networks AirTight Networks, the industry standard for wireless vulnerability management, is the only company that offers customers a flexible, end-to-end solution that gives them visibility into their wireless security posture and a choice in how to manage it. AirTight provides full wireless intrusion prevention systems (WIPS) and the world’s first on demand wireless vulnerability management service. AirTight’s patented technology delivers the key elements of an effective WIPS to eliminate false alarms, block wireless threats immediately and automatically and locate wireless devices and events with pinpoint precision. AirTight’s customers include global retail, financial services, corporate, education and government organizations. AirTight Networks is a privately held company based in Mountain View, CA. For more information please visit www.airtightnetworks.com Media Contacts: Della Lowe AirTight Networks Tel: +1 (650) 934 8191 della.lowe@airtightnetworks.com AirTight Networks, and the AirTight Networks logo are trademarks; and AirTight and SpectraGuard are registered trademark of AirTight Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. << Back to: Press Releases