Is the security of free Wi-Fi okay?4 measures that businesses need to know

About 70 % of users feel uneasy about free Wi-Fi security

Free Wi-Fi refers to an environment where anyone can access smartphones, PCs and tablet devices, and is also called wireless LAN, free Wi-Fi.

It is introduced in cafes, family restaurants, co-working spaces, etc., and has the advantage of attracting customers by using free Wi-Fi, and increasing the price of customers by staying for a long time.

Free Internet properties are popular in rental housing, and ranked first in the popular equipment ranking 2021 published by the National Rental Housing Shimbun, and ranked first for the sixth consecutive year.

In order to make the Internet free (fully) property, the owner will pay the monthly usage fee at the same time as the free Wi-Fi installation.

However, there are many properties that add free Wi-Fi and Internet lines to rent, so you can expect to increase your occupancy rate and increase your rent while keeping the burden on the owner.

In a questionnaire on public Wi-Fi conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a total of 69.6 % of those who answered "Is it always anxious" or "sometimes anxious" when asked the question "Do you feel anxious with public Wi-Fi?"I will go up.56.1 % of those who say that they are uneasy about security is that they do not use public Wi-Fi, and you can see that the security side is a bottleneck.

(Target area: Nationwide period: February 13, 2020 Number of surveys: 31,112 (Screening Survey of Public Wi-Fi users 1,392))

[Image source] Created by capture from "Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: Wi-Fi Security Countermeasures for providers" https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000690267.pdf

What should I do to introduce free Wi-Fi and increase the occupancy rate and customer attracting rate without worrying about security?

Free Wi-Fi has a security method

Free Wi-Fi has different security strength depending on the security method, and has been enhanced with the evolution of WPA, WPA2, WPA3 and IT technology from WEP.

[Image source] Created by capture from "Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: Wi-Fi Security Countermeasures for providers" https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000690267.pdf

The provider will be able to use the free Wi-Fi by telling the user "passphrase (password)".

Currently, WPA2 is used in many facilities, but the latest "WPA3 personal (WPA3-personal)" has been enhanced when using weak passphrase and has been improved from WPA2.。

Four security measures for free Wi-Fi that businesses should know

WPA3 was announced in 2018 as the latest Wi-Fi security protocol (communication standard).

Even if passwords and ciphers are analyzed more than the conventional security method, the function of defending cyber attacks will be stronger, and the function will be blocked when the wrong password is entered a certain number of times, as of January 2022, the most security strength is the most security strength.It is a strong method.

There are two types of WPA3, "Personal use (WPA3-Personal)" and "Corporate (WPA3-ENTERPRISE)", and most of the small facilities such as cafes, rental spaces, and condominiums are used for personal (personal).increase.

In facilities that have introduced WPA2, the cost of "WPA2 personal (WPA2-PSK)" is often used.

The WPA2 Personal can be used safely without decoding the communication content of the connected person if all the people who connect to the access point share the same passphrase and the passphrase is not understood by a third party.

However, if the passphrase is known, the communication contents of the access point can be deciphered relatively easily.There is a risk that malicious third parties will set up fake access points and the communication content will be stolen.

When using the WPA2 personal method, it is necessary to take measures such as distributing the passphrase individually without posting a passphrase or changing the passphrase regularly.

However, in WPA3 personal (WPA3-Personal), security is enhanced, so the risk of information leakage and theft is lower than WPA2 personal.

Depending on the situation of free Wi-Fi, it is difficult to convey the passphrase to the user, so it is necessary to comprehensively determine the benefits and risks of use.

It is possible to provide free Wi-Fi using the network used by companies and organizations, but may be damaged by Wi-Fi on a commercial PC.

Use a method such as physically separating networks and building another network with VLAN technology, and dividing business networks and free Wi-Fi networks.

In order to provide free Wi-Fi, it is necessary to install equipment such as access points and routers at the facility.

In order to manage the device, set the administrator ID and password, but if the password is easy (eg Password, 1234, etc.), there is a risk that the information will be hacked and the information will be leaked or stolen.

If you set a long one that combines numbers, alphabets, lowercase letters, symbols, etc., the risk of decoding by a brute force attack to test all patterns will be reduced.Also, if the password is initially set, change it.

Even when the access point passphrase is easy, set a complicated one because the passphrase is easy to guess and the danger increases.

As the same network device, there are some parts that are common to smart speakers, so please refer to the following article.https://www.sumave.com/20180920_6291/

In order to increase the occupancy rate and attract customers with free Wi-Fi

In order to increase the occupancy rate and customer attracting rate with free Wi-Fi, it should be widely announced to users and residents that they are taking security measures on posters and signboards.

It is a material for users / residents to use or move in positively, saying that free Wi-Fi can be used with peace of mind.

Security is important for those who handle personal information, such as stores and co -working space, are important for those who handle personal information, so notices such as posters are a chance to increase the number of customers.

Leasing Internet free properties have many cases of introducing Internet lines and Wi-Fi, and it takes time and effort when introduced, but the resident saves the trouble of preparing the line, so there is high demand and rent-ups and rent up.Can be expected.

Take appropriate security measures as a business operator, and increase the number of customers and the occupancy rate.

The author/Asami Tanaka FP writer.She got a second grade FP qualification while in college, and she became a writer after she was involved in medical work.She wrote many articles such as finance, fintech, real estate, and inheritance.Blog: https: //asa123001.hatenablog.com/twitter: https: //twitter.com/writertanaka19