There were 419 respondents in the survey composed of mostly businesses with more than 5000 employees (34%) and more than 10000 employees. (21%)
Some of the results show the potential direction we're going to see companies moving toward in regards to wireless technology. A couple interesting data points are:
- 45% have plans to deploy 802.11ac gear on production networks, half of those will go to it as soon as it is available.
- 37% see wireless replacing wired infrastructure within five years.
802.11ac is going to be the new wireless standard and is projected to be common place by 2015. It has roughly three times the speed of current 802.11n technology. It also boasts increased range and stability.
The idea of wireless replacing wired infrastructure, while it seems an eventuality, will take time and will likely cause some stir in the security community. Wired connections can be completely closed, only allowing someone physically connected to access systems. Wireless, while still able to be secured, is always going to need to allow at least some level of connectivity from the outside world. Adding a potential gateway for attacks on systems.
VPN services and increased, more innovative wireless security will become more and more necessary as we move toward a wireless future. It's going to become even more important that we protect ourselves from potential threats in an age where information is becoming increasingly valuable and available.
