Despite often poor security hygiene, businesses and IT leaders are overconfident in their organizations’ Wi-Fi security, according to a study released by Ruckus Networks.
At the company’s annual Big Dogs conference in Seoul recently, Aravind Vasudevan, Director, Marketing Ruckus Networks Asia Pacific, noted that 1 out of 5 organizations have an open Wi-Fi network with no secure login measures.
The study also found that 6 out of 10 use just username and password for Wi-Fi access, while just 17% consider insecure connection as their top concern with Wi-Fi at home.
Despite this, 53% of respondents rated the current state of Wi-Fi security in their organization as good or very good, indicating a high level of confidence in their organizations’ Wi-Fi security posture, according to Vasudevan.
The study revealed that 47% experience at least six instances of connectivity downtime in the last 12 months; and 26% experience connectivity downtime that lasted 3 hours or more. Meanwhile, 37% of the IT departments in organizations need to spend a week of more to manage Wi-Fi or network-related issue within a month.
Nine in ten (90%) of business and IT leaders also agree that bad Wi-Fi experience will negatively affect brand image.
Respondents report that more than three quarters (76%) of end users indicated that slow connection speed is the top concern within their organization. Only 24% of respondents across Asia Pacific had a good experience with public Wi-Fi.
The study also found that security concerns ranks high with unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks: 83% indicated insecure connection one of the top three concerns they have when connecting to public Wi-Fi. Seventy-two percent indicated insecure connection one of the top three concerns they have when connecting to Wi-Fi when traveling overseas for work or holiday.
Organizations in Asia Pacific have incurred a significant business loss due to connectivity downtime, according to the study. The total estimated business losses for APAC businesses is $51 million yearly.
First published in NetworksAsia