UK COMPUTER THEFT A SERIOUS THREAT TO NETWORKS Access all areas - vnunet.com
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The weakest links

The problem with people is even if you give them secure notebooks, there is a good chance they will fail to use security measures. From leaving them in the pub to using stupidly simple passwords, people are widely considered to be the weakest link in any security scenario.

Last year the Computer Security Institute found that 57 per cent of corporate network breaches originated from stolen computers, and that stolen laptops represented an average financial loss of $89,000 each.

This is why notebook vendors, to allay business fears, are making security a standard part of the system. From building security into the chips and the operating systems to bundling security software and introducing advanced security measures such as biometrics on their products, notebook security is being taken out of the user's hands.

Intel's Centrino notebook chips now support more secure versions of the wireless 802.11 standards, so that even forgetting to turn off your wireless connection when it is not being used doesn't have to result in data theft.

Notebook vendors are also introducing biometric security into their products. Gateway in the US and more recently IBM have included fingerprint scanners on certain notebooks. When combined with a unique user password or security token, you are looking at strong, tailored security that matches each user to their own laptop.

Although the technology used to be expensive, fingerprint scanners are now relatively cheap. Like many other aspects of mobile security, they offer resellers another chance to bolt on a service. At the end of the day, it is not the wireless hardware or notebooks/PDAs that are going to generate decent margin.

Vine says: "The whole wireless sector has a lot of opportunities, from pre-sales advice to post-sales services. There is also a lot to be made out of the security aspect of going wireless.

Security in this field is not exactly a black art any more and there are resellers out there that have come up with good wireless security solutions to add to the hardware offering."

Duke agrees. "The biggest issue for corporates is they are hung up on the security issues surrounding wireless - the technology is inexpensive to deploy, and as a reseller, you have to put a service wrap around it. We tend to make that wrap a security wrap," he says.

"Businesses have to be assured that the person logging in is the person they claim to be. That extra wrap is where the resellers can make money."

In the past, only large firms were concerned about network security, Rivers says. "Now the threat has been understood by all. In fact security has become the top concern among small businesses. With SMEs, resellers need to be able to take a consultative approach and have a good understanding of security technologies.

Resellers should be looking to act as the IT director for SMEs. After all, the money to be gained from the sale of the kit and the installation is minimal compared with that of post-sales service contracts," he says.