1 Quick & Easy Security Tip for Today

A brief discussion about "Two-Step Authentication" and your small business network.

Every additional layer of security reduces the risk of unauthorized access, and adding a second method of authenticating business network users may be a great way to deter inappropriate activities. For very secure enterprise environments, this would require a key fob or some external hardware attached to a laptop in addition to a user-id and password. While this method is very secure, it is costly to implement and few businesses choose to do so. However, nothing is stopping us from being creative and implementing two sets of authentication methods for various aspects of business. Let's look at a simple wireless network in a small retail environment. A consumer grade wireless router & access-point can easily implement a form of two step authentication. Consider enabling the wireless encryption protocol. When encryption is enabled, not only is it harder to gain access to the network, scrambling part of your transmission path is now an added benefit. Many small businesses take advantage of this simple encryption method, but few take the second step of authentication to significantly reduce the probability of a network intrusion. Media Access Control (MAC) Address filtering is another deterrent method available on consumer grade routers. This will help restrict wireless access to only those users or devices you authorize. These addresses are uniquely assigned to each network device manufactured. If a MAC address isn't on your router's list, access is denied. We certainly don't claim that this method is 100% secure. If you are in a industry where security policies are regulated, we don't recommend consumer grade wireless routers as a solution. Consult a professional! Review your industry's requirements or recommendations, and if you have any questions - feel free to call our local support team for help. 706-823-2115.
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