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Keeping the Airwaves Safe and Secure


By Beckie Kelly Schuerenberg, Senior Editor December 2005

When implementing a wireless network, security used to be an afterthought.

While I.T. staff ensured their organization's early Wi-Fi technologies had basic security tools, they sometimes were more interested in learning what a wireless network could do for them than securing it.

As a result, the Wired Equivalent Privacy encryption, firewall and authentication applications within some providers' Wi-Fi network technologies sometimes were used sparingly or never activated, experts say.

But as I.T. leaders discovered clinical uses for their organization's wireless network, their interest in security technologies intensified. They anticipated needing a whole new set of tools and policies to effectively secure patient data accessed via a wireless network.

Now many of these providers have or are deploying new technologies, including stronger encryption, virtual private networks and management applications that enable them to scan their wireless airwaves for security vulnerabilities.

Until recently, some organizations had Wi-Fi networks in name only, says Christopher Kent, director of provider services at Daou Systems, Inc., a wholly owned consulting subsidiary of Proxicom Inc., Reston, Va.

"A true mobile health care solution is much greater than putting access points in the ceiling," Kent says. "There's a lot that goes into implementing wireless systems and securing devices. It's much bigger than a breadbox now."

In addition to implementing new technologies, many provider organizations also are sizing up their wireless security strategies to reflect evolving clinical applications and technologies.

In doing so, they are assessing many variables, including how their network is being used, what devices are being used on it, their current hardwired security strategies and all available security technologies.

As a result, no provider's wireless security technologies and strategies are exactly the same as another's; nor is there a best practice for every organization or even for each department within an organization, Kent says. But regardless of why or how they revised their strategies, many provider organizations are using more sophisticated policies and technologies to secure their wireless networks.

"A few years ago it was pretty common for health care organizations to be uncomfortable with their wireless security," Kent says. "But now they can make their wireless network as secure as or even more secure than their hardwired one."

Maturing technology

Until recently, most of the available wireless security tools were relatively primitive.

The WEP encryption application included in most wireless network technologies was easy to crack, and standards organizations hadn't finalized stronger encryption tools and wireless standards that could offer easier integration of security technologies.

Now that standards, such as Wi-Fi Protected Access encryption and 802.11i wireless network protocols are in place, wireless security technologies have become stronger and more sophisticated. They also often are bundled into management applications, offering organizations a consolidated, centralized system for maintaining their wireless network.

The integration has enabled some providers, including the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and Children's Hospital, to more easily implement and adopt enhanced wireless security technologies.

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