Hackers cash in on 802.1x confusion

Companies are leaving their wireless networks exposed to hackers because of widespread failure to understand or implement 802.11x security systems, a survey has claimed.

The study commissioned security vendor nCipher revealed less than half of firms plan to introduce the technology in the next two years. It comes as another blow to producers of 802.1x equipment, following Forrester research in March which showed the technology is more costly to implement than originally thought.

802.1x is an IEEE standard that protects network ports from unauthorised access and is particularly designed for wireless networks.