The ability to use multiple passphrases on a single Service Set Identifier (SSID) has been in place for more than a decade; since that time, this method of access has grown in popularity and has seen increasing adoption from different Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Vendors.
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) underpins most of these existing solutions. However, weaknesses with WPA2, coupled with the inability of WPA2 to operate on the 6GHz frequency, necessitate alternative solutions.
In the whitepaper below, Lee Wright, wireless engineer at Redway Networks examines both standards-based implementations of WPA2 and proprietary implementations of Multiple Pre-Shared Key (PSK) solutions using WPA2. Afterwards, the newer successor to WPA2, Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3), is examined, assessing why it is much more challenging to implement a multiple PSK solution using WPA3.
Lastly, this paper introduces an alternative solution to multiple PSK that provides security improvements over WPA2 and is compatible with 6GHz.
Please click on the image below to view the whitepaper.
Cyber Security is a top priority for small and medium businesses, who can no longer get by with standard solutions. SMBs need industry-leading protection. But a holistic SMB security solution must also provide affordable and flexible protection across the entire company.
Why SMBs need advanced security solutions
Over 50% of cyber attacks are aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and more than 80% are not financially prepared to recover from an attack. The average SMB IT team lacks staff resources to effectively manage cybersecurity and hybrid work. And troublingly millions of pounds each year is lost in data, IP, productivity, compliance, regulatory expenses, and staffing due to cyber attacks. There are some businesses, for instance law firms, who need iron-clad security as their firm cannot risk the legal and reputational consequences of a breach of confidential client data.
Why we recommend Cisco Security for SMBs
At Redway Networks, we recommend Cisco Security for our small and medium-sized business customers as Cisco’s flexible, cloud-led portfolio delivers solutions that grow and fit with our customers’ security journey – whether that’s cyber, physical or environmental. We provide a holistic approach to security solutions which are organised around Cisco’s three building blocks.
Enabling People – with Cisco Umbrella
Enhancing Work Spaces – with Meraki cloud-networking
Empowering IT Management – with Meraki Dashboard
We provide a portfolio of Cisco products, expertly designed to grow our customers’ business. We can provide highly-reliable, secure cloud-networks and security solutions including network switches, firewalls, wireless access points, SD-WAN, smart cameras and cyber security that protect your business against security threats so you can safeguard your business brand and growth.
Security solutions that get it right the first time
SMB’s face security threats on many fronts, and the more users, devices, and applications they add, the more vulnerable their network becomes.
With our cloud-security solutions you can protect your employees against threats no matter where they are working from and accessing the Internet. We provide password security that provides easy, secure access to Virtual Private Network (VPN), email, and any app that employees value, using multi-factor authentication. Our firewalls surround your network with a top‑line defence that detects and stops threats fast without slowing you down. Built on the award-winning cloud architecture of Cisco Meraki, the MX is a managed solution for unified threat management (UTM) and SD-WAN in a single appliance. Our end-point and VPN security protects users when they connect to the network and protect against advanced threats at every endpoint.
What is network security?
Network security is any activity designed to protect the usability and integrity of your network and data. It includes both hardware and software technologies. Effective network security manages access to the network. It targets a variety of threats and stops them from entering or spreading on your network.
How does network security work?
Network security combines multiple layers of defences at the edge and in the network. Each network security layer implements policies and controls. Authorized users gain access to network resources, but malicious actors are blocked from carrying out exploits and threats.
How do I benefit from network security?
Digitisation has transformed our world. How we live, work, play, and learn have all changed. Every organisation that wants to deliver the services that customers and employees demand must protect its network. Network security also helps you protect proprietary information from attack. Ultimately it protects your reputation. There are many types of network security solutions that you’ll want to consider, including Access control – not every user should have access to your network. To keep out potential attackers, you need to recognise each user and each device. Then you can enforce your security policies. You can block noncompliant endpoint devices or give them only limited access. We call this process network access control (NAC).
We’re often asked by our customers what are the main steps to creating a holistic security solution for their small and medium-sized business, so here’s our top 6 based on the Cisco Security Solution:
Understanding the different types of security solutions
1. Closely monitor your traffic.
Monitor the traffic coming in and going out your firewall and read the reports carefully. Don’t rely on alerts to flag dangerous activity. Make sure someone on your team understands the data and is prepared to take the necessary action.
2. Stay up to date on new threats.
Keep an eye on new threats as they’re discovered and posted online. We help our customers by regularly publishing information in our news letters.
3. Regularly update your frontline defence.
To prevent threats from getting in, your business must deploy a strong frontline defence at the edge of the network. Make sure your firewall and anti-virus software is secure by enabling regular updates.
4. Train your employees on security protocols.
Train employees on an ongoing basis so they understand any changes to your acceptable use policy. Also, encourage a “neighbourhood watch” approach to security. If an employee notices anything suspicious, such as not being able to log into an email account right away, he or she should notify the appropriate person immediately.
5. Protect against data loss.
Install a data protection solution. This type of device can protect your business from data loss if your network’s security is breached.
6. Additional security.
Consider additional security solutions that will further protect your network as well as expand your company’s capabilities.
If you’re an SMB who’d like to know more about protecting your business with Cisco Meraki cloud-networking and Cisco Umbrella, our team can give you honest, no frills advice, so Contact us today.
Digital transformation is vital for businesses today in staying competitive. With companies looking to save time and reduce costs, replacing outdated, legacy IT equipment with a cloud-first network is a key enabler to success. Businesses can benefit from the operational speed and agility made possible by cloud networking which enables them to adapt to changing work environments.
Modernise your IT and reap the new benefits of a cloud-managed business
As more businesses adopt a hybrid-workforce a cloud-managed IT infrastructure can drive business growth by boosting efficiency and innovation and enabling the delivery of better user experiences. If staff need to transition to remote work, a cloud-managed network can be easily extended and rolled out to all employees wherever they are located. And small IT teams can easily connect remote locations without having to rely on assistance from end users which supports business growth.
Your future success begins with the cloud
Future-ready, flexible, cloud-managed networks save time and ensure robust, secure connectivity for everyone, whilst providing the level of security, stability, and reliability everyone needs from their network. As the business grows, agility can easily be reached as existing and new offices can be connected easily and secured via the cloud. Office connectivity and ‘work pods’ can be seamless as cloud-managed wireless access points provide more reliable, faster WiFi connections with superior coverage. And additional offices can benefit from secure, reliable VPN connectivity which is where a cloud-managed security and SD-WAN system along with next-generation switches comes into its own.
Lean IT Teams
With smaller IT teams needing to be lean, they can’t be spending unnecessary time network troubleshooting which is why changing to a cloud-managed network that delivers the insight and analytics they need, means they are free to look at other high-priority IT initiatives that will support business growth.
Embarking on a successful digital transformation journey to modernise your business systems can seem an overwhelming task. That’s why finding the right IT infrastructure company to work with that has the experience to recommend the best cloud-managed solution for your business and can deliver a great project from start to finish, including design, configuration, installation, and support, is key.
The right partner can offer the best advice and insight to make complex IT navigation simple and make sure you meet your IT goals for a future-ready, cloud-first business.
A network that grows with your business
We provide the complete portfolio of Cisco Meraki solutions expertly designed and installed by our certified network engineers, so your business can simplify its IT and gain the many benefits of a Meraki cloud-managed solution.
– Hybrid work that scales your business and empowers your workforce
– Remote Workforce for improving connectivity and creating ideal user experiences
– Safe environments that unite physical security and cybersecurity to protect what matters most
– Smart Spaces that elevate the areas where employees and customers come together
All managed with the Cisco Meraki cloud-first platform, your business can build, monitor, and optimise everyone’s experiences.
To find out why a Meraki cloud-managed solution is the right fit for your business, get in touch with our team who can arrange a full demo.
Businesses today want exceptional experiences so its time to break up complexity and start a fresh with a cloud-managed network. Cloud-first networks change everything as they deliver dynamic, business-boosting experiences that move your organisation forward faster. A cloud-managed network will help your business improve efficiency, cost management and agility. It will give your business speed of deliver and the ability to change quickly and improve performance. A cloud platform is always on, always learning and always ready for what’s next.
Want to know why businesses work best in the cloud and what a cloud-first network looks like, or how you can start transitioning your own network? It all starts with a platform-based approach. We are Cisco Premier Integrator Partners who help our customers unify their IT and IoT experiences. We design, configure and install Meraki solutions that scale easily, automate operations, connect multiple domains securely, and enable an open ecosystem of partnerships.
Cloud-based networking
Businesses who adopt a cloud-first network strategy thrive. Older networks with full-stack on-premises technologies have become too rigid and expensive to keep up with the pace of today’s businesses. A cloud-first network changes everything. Your business can gain important advantages such as enhanced reliability, security, automation, remote management, multi-site visibility, and dynamic scalability. All of these work together to grow your business when and where you need it—without the high costs of private connectivity, or maintaining your own data centre. A cloud-first network gives you the flexibility to meet your customers’ needs now and quickly shift as their needs change, ensuring the best possible experience for them and your employees, no matter how business changes in the future.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Meraki platform is its sheer scale. Whether you have one office location or several, Meraki enables you to transition your network over time to suit your business. And no matter what you throw at it, the Meraki platform can handle it. Start by migrating one location and you’ll immediately realise just how easy it is. Unbox and plug in the IoT or network device and the Meraki platform will have your infrastructure up and running in minutes.
Need to deploy on a large scale?
The Meraki platform enables you to deploy tens of thousands of networks quickly through automation and simple configuration, accelerating your strategic business goals. Once your network is up, the Meraki platform can auto-scale to meet whatever traffic demands you have and provide the enterprise-grade capabilities you have come to rely on. That means that as you get used to the benefits of our cloud-first network, Meraki grows with you. Each location can have a unique configuration to meet the needs of your employees and customers while also meeting your corporate standards. And the Meraki platform will automatically absorb it into your overall cloud first network topology.
As your current networks have grown in scale and complexity, so have the challenges facing your network operations team. For even the most sophisticated teams, trying to identify, isolate, and remediate issues affecting network performance can be challenging. To counter this issue, Meraki uses machine learning (ML) to transform billions of data points across our entire cloud platform into meaningful insights and trusted recommendations. Our data lake—the largest networking dataset in the industry—aggregates all of this anonymised telemetry and feeds it through our machine-learning pipelines to generate the insights to keep your networks running optimally. One of the great benefits of Meraki’s machine learning is its ability to learn from situations your staff may not have thought of when deploying your new cloud network. Machine learning allows the network to learn as it manages traffic, giving you the ability to update policies as you go based on what the system is learning. This enables Meraki to provide powerful assurance capabilities for your wireless and wired networks, as well as WAN application health.
Enhance reliability and security
One of the most-asked questions about why businesses work best in the cloud and cloud-networking revolves around reliability and security. The Meraki platform has the highest reliability in the industry and a proven track record with multiple ways to keep your data secure. Part of what makes Meraki so reliable is its highly available redundant configuration. Data is replicated across multiple independent data centres, and there are nightly archival backups of your network configuration and statistical data. Meraki also provides 24/7 automated failover protection, which means customer-facing services failover quickly in the rare event an outage does occur. A power outage or natural disaster could strike at any time, but that doesn’t mean your customers need to suffer. The Meraki platform uses an out-of-band architecture to preserve network functionality for your employees and customers, even if connectivity to Meraki cloud services is interrupted. Once the connection to the cloud is re-established, the Meraki platform automatically updates the devices at the affected location—with minimal strain on your IT staff.
Meraki keeps your data segregated from other users and provides granular access control for the different networks and IoT devices in your environment, and we maintain some of the most stringent security and compliance standards in the world, including PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 Type II. Configuration data is encrypted in transit and at rest in the cloud, preventing unwanted changes and potential snooping. Meraki also has 24/7 automated intrusion protection, IP- and port-based firewalls, two factor authentication, and can restrict remote access by IP address and verify it by public key (RSA). Clearly, the Meraki platform can scale and innovate while enhancing network reliability and security. All of this helps amplify the effectiveness of your distributed teams – enabling your staff to do more in less time.
Ease of Operation
The user interface (UI) to the Meraki platform happens with our dashboard, which continues to set the industry standard for simplicity. It starts with an organisational view where you can see the overall health and performance of each network on a single page. This lets you quickly see any urgent issues that may need to be addressed or if similar issues are happening across multiple networks—a clear sign of a larger issue. From here, you can drill down as far as you want to go to get the information you need for true end-to-end visibility.
Want to see the configuration of switches at a certain location? The dashboard shows you the information graphically and allows you to replicate the configuration for a new location. Need to access analytics from a specific camera? The dashboard makes it easy to digest and understand. What about the performance of a WiFi access point at a certain location? The dashboard has that information too. Visibility within the dashboard allows you to view exactly where a client device is currently connected, whether to an access point, switch, security appliance, or even spanning outside your corporate network.
It’s also possible to view how the network components themselves are interconnected. The network topology view automatically maps network architectures, showing how Meraki security, switching, wireless, communication, and video surveillance devices are connected. Beyond individual client devices, the dashboard allows you to view macro trends, such as how applications are performing across your network and change settings to prioritise certain applications over others. For example, you can set policies that give priority to WebEx video traffic over email. You can also see how much bandwidth is being consumed over the entire network for a productive user experience (UX). The Meraki platform enables you to automate with APIs, customise with apps and deploy at your own pace, so its perfect for SMB’s as well as large organisations.
So if you want your business to work best in the cloud, contact us today.