Three Ways Your Business Can Benefit from Secure WI-FI Software Solutions

Irrespective of whether you run a coffee shop, hotel, dinner, or retail outlet, providing internet access to your customers is an essential factor in promoting your business. For their own and their customers' convenience, most businesses opt for wireless internet access (Wi-Fi) over cable internet access.  

Nonetheless, providing unsecured Wi-Fi access to your customers and employees poses the risk of negatively affecting your business. For instance, it is pretty easy for hackers to use your free Wi-Fi to commit cyber-crimes that will, unfortunately, trace back to your business. To avoid problems like this, you should ensure that your Wi-Fi is secure. 

One of the best ways to ensure that your Wi-Fi connection is protected is via a secure Wi-Fi software solution. A secure Wi-Fi software solution will allow you to control who is using your internet connection. It will also enable you to monitor and restrict malicious activity on your Wi-Fi, while at the same time securing sensitive business information that can be accessed via the internet connection.

1. Control Access to Your Network

One of the main disadvantages of having an unsecured Wi-Fi connection in your business is it can attract freeloaders and sometimes even hackers. Remember, if your WI-FI is not secured, anyone can access and use it even from outside your premises, so long as they are in the range of the signal.

Typically, when you install Wi-Fi in your business premises, you intend for it to be used by your employees and customers. Unfortunately, when you have unsecured Wi-Fi, freeloaders who have no intention of benefiting your business can start utilizing the Wi-Fi without your knowledge.

A few extra freeloaders using your Wi-Fi may seem harmless. However, if many freeloaders use the Wi-Fi simultaneously, they can hog your bandwidth, thus causing the Wi-Fi to lag. A lagging Wi-Fi will ultimately negatively affect your business because your business operations that rely on Wi-Fi will also lag, thus affecting your business's productivity. Additionally, your customers may decide to visit another hotel or coffee shop where the internet doesn't lag.

However, when you invest in a secure Wi-Fi software solution, you can provide Wi-Fi access to customers via secure passwords. This will help you control who is using your internet connection. 

2. Avoid Liability

As mentioned earlier, it is pretty easy for hackers to use your unsecured Wi-Fi to commit malicious acts on the internet. Unfortunately, if your Wi-Fi connection is used when someone commits a cybercrime, it is pretty easy for the authorities to trace the crime back to your business.

Though it is pretty difficult to prove that you are liable for a cyber-crime committed using your unsecured Wi-Fi, you might have to shut down your business to allow the investigation process to get conducted. Even so, there is still a small chance that you could be held liable for a cyber-crime you did not commit because the crime was traced back to your internet connection.

To avoid such a scenario negatively impacting or even ruining your reputation and business, invest in a secure Wi-Fi software solution. A secure Wi-Fi software solution incorporates a network monitoring kit. The monitoring kit enables you to restrict malicious acts on your Wi-Fi, which will help ensure that you aren't held liable for a cybercrime that you or your employees did not commit.

3. Secure Your Sensitive Business Information 

Having an unsecured network also provides easy access to your sensitive business information. Skilled hackers can often use your unsecured Wi-Fi to access your business's banking information and even employee personal data. Once they have your sensitive information, it is pretty easy for a hacker to gain access to your bank account, which can allow them to steal your hard-earned funds or even create fake identities using your employees' data.

To help avoid such scenarios, invest in secure Wi-Fi software solutions, like those offered by Secured By VAULT, that will enable you to restrict access to sensitive information stored on your business network.