The primary security concern for users of Public Spots is the confidentiality of their data. Users are also interested in security of user data to avoid misuse. Users are protected by the following security technologies:
- Intra-cell blocking (WLAN Only)Prevent communication between the WLAN clients in your Public Spot network. Along with the user's existing security mechanisms, this measure helps to prevent unauthorized access to the resources of your Public Spot users.
- Encryption during the login phaseIf you have a digital certificate, you can load it on your device in order to secure usernames and
passwords using an encrypted HTTPS method. The digital certificate should be signed by a recognized public authority so that browsers classify it as
trustworthy and do not display security errors to the users. If there is no certificate, data is sent unencrypted.
Note: The certificate merely secures the login process, as the data within a Public Spot network are normally not encrypted. This is true for LAN as well as WLAN connections. If your users wish to secure their regular data traffic as well, they will have to use their own encryption methods.Rohde & Schwarz Networks and Cybersecurity strongly recommends that sensitive user data should only ever be transferred via encrypted connections, such as the IPSec-based VPN tunnel with the R&S®LANCOM Advanced VPN Client or over normal encrypted data connections based on HTTPS. In addition to this, Public Spot users should ensure that a personal firewall is active on their end devices.
An exception to this are the WLAN connections via HotSpot 2.0: Since the HotSpot 2.0 standard is based on WPA2 (802.1X/802.11i), EAP and 802.11u, data packets are always encrypted for transmission, both for authentication and during the session.
