IT Solutions Blog

Why is captive portal important for wireless guest access?

 

Have you logged onto a public wi-fi system in a Starbucks or Panera Bread recently?
If you have, you’ve seen a log on page otherwise known as a “captive portal” page. It looks like a standard webpage and most people click through the log on process without giving it much thought.
But there are some really important things that that page does if you’re the one offering free wireless access for guests. Many times small businesses or even hospitals will provide guest access without a captive portal page; I think a guest wireless network with no captive portal is a mistake for these reasons:

 

1.      You need a page identifying it is your business and Wi-Fi network: Why?

 

•        So users don’t connect to a hacker’s network: One of the easy ways hackers are stealing data is to pose as a legitimate Wi-Fi network, have a user associate to it, and you’ve got an easy way to grab someone’s info. So if your business is a coffee shop or even a hospital providing guest access for patients in the waiting room, your network should be properly identified.

 

Be aware of someone setting up a network nearby and calling it something similar to yours. They may even call it “free public wi-fi” or something similar. The next time you’re at Starbucks look for the available Wi-Fi networks in the area, chances are you’ve got someone close by looking to steal data.

 

•          To Take Credit, you deserve it: If you’re going through the hassle of providing a wireless guest network, you might as well let them know you did. So throw up a page that has your logo and maybe even an offer for something that helps you market your business and connect with customers. Offer a coupon; ask them to connect with you on facebook or twitter. These are all fantastic things for your business and can really make the cost of a guest network worth it.

 

2.      Protect your business from being sued: How could this happen?

•           Identity or Credit Card Theft: Chances are you’re providing “open guest access” meaning you aren’t providing authentication of users and encryption of data. Simply put: the information the user is sending over the Wi-Fi network is not secure. That may seem logical and you may not think you have to tell the user not to send their credit card information over your wireless or use their social security number anywhere. But you do have to say that, and you want to require the user check a box that says they understand that you aren’t liable if they do something stupid like try to collect on the money given to them by a Nigerian prince.

 

•          If your Wi-Fi Guest does something illegal: You know that the internet isn’t private right? The reality is that when you buy internet access from a provider that they provide you an IP Address. That IP address works just like a physical address to identify the location of where something happening.

 

If someone is pirating music or movies from your network the companies looking to sue look for the “Source IP”, meaning they have the potential to track it to your location. We’ve actually been on college campuses when the IT Director is dealing with a threatening letter from the music industry. It can get nasty and you don’t want to be involved.

 

A Captive Portal lets you include your rules into the terms of use policy, force your wireless guest to accept it, and that will help you limit your liability for all of that bad stuff. (you may want to also consider using web filtering or application filter software but that’s for another discussion).

 

At SecurEdge we’ve been designing and deploying secure wireless infrastructure for a long, long time. If you need some help, you can contact us here for a free consultation. There’s also some good stuff we offer on our site for free like the wireless network design kit, we hope we can be a valuable resource for you.