Your Networking article "In the Air, Wireless Mischief" (Dec. 9) demonstrates the very real threat that wireless networks can pose to individuals and organizations.
It's easy to berate wireless technology providers for valuing ease of use above security. This does not, however, address the real problem -- that wirelessness has dramatically changed the nature of the perimeter of our infrastructure, causing it to blur almost to the vanishing point.
We may try to keep our perimeter intact by insisting that the wireless parts are treated as "external" and hostile, but this is unrealistic. As your article shows, it is very difficult to prevent accidental or unauthorized wireless connections inside our infrastructure.
Wireless technology is not the only factor eroding the traditional concept of the infrastructure perimeter. Outsourcing IT erodes the perimeter by allowing outsiders into our infrastructure to manage our servers. We have seen organizations with such a mix of own-managed systems, outsourced systems and service providers that it's difficult to identify the infrastructure perimeter even without the complication of wireless technology.
Since organizations traditionally rely on perimeter defenses such as firewalls, we need to rethink security defenses. Defending against unauthorized access and information leaks requires some technical defenses, as well as the wider range of technical, personnel, procedural and operational security measures that are available. We must all make sure we know the answer to the question "Do you know where your perimeter is today?"
