When WiFi's online, account management seems to be the most basic feature.——Creates accounts, distributes packages, and users access the Internet. But when you actually do run it, you find that the account does not end with creation, but has a full life cycle: opening an account, activating, using, changing, hibernation, writing off. Each link has easy-to-underest details, which are poorly handled, and less complaints from users, and more serious security gaps or fee disputes."Is account management functional?"No, I'm not."How do you manage every link in the accounts life cycle?"I was on the line and found a hole everywhere.
Data sources and validation logic for opening the account
WiFi network billing system accounts are opened, and the data sources usually are several: Synchronous System, Bulk Imports, User Self-Registration. The check logic varies from one source to another.——How long can a student register be seen in the billing system? If the synchronisation cycle is one per day, the freshman report may not be available on the same day. Bulk imports are usually used at the beginning of the school year and import is checked to be re-examined and formatted, otherwise an error in data formats could lead to a whole batch of imports that fail without the system being wrong.
Double factor validation and defense sub-offices for activation phase
WiFi network billing system is only password-tested and not double-factored at many schools during the account activation phase. This means that anyone who gets a school number will try to activate it, and the code will be tampered with when it is violently broken. The activation phase recommends text message authentication or mailbox validation, ensuring that it works itself. Another issue that can easily be underestimated is the surrogate activation.——Students ask their classmates to activate the account and give it both. In this case, the security responsibility for the account becomes blurred. The system level can protect itself by notifying (text message or App push) after activation, if they do not know about it, and freezing in a timely manner. Don't underestimate the notice, which is the basis for division of responsibilities when there are safety incidents.
Package changes and balance warning during the period of use
The most frequent operation during the period of use is a suite change. WiFi network billing system supports user self-help changes, but processing of changes is crucial. For example, users have 2 GB traffic left in their current package, users are upgraded to higher ones, and how do we manage the remaining 2 GB?——Whether to keep the package or carry it? Different strategies have different feelings for users. When will a new set come into effect after change?——The rules are set in advance and clearly pointed out on the user interface, so that users cannot guess. The balance alert is also an important function of the use phase.——The user is informed of the flow when 80 per cent and 100 per cent are used, rather than waiting for the user to exceed its limit.
De-lacing and password replacement of equipment during change phase
The most frequent user changes in WiFi network billing systems are equipment untied and password-reset. Students change their phones, reload their systems, clean accounts before graduation, and have to untie them. If the system limits the number of binding devices (e.g. up to three), users must untied old ones before they can do it again.——The system supports the replacement of passwords by text messages or email boxes, but the replacement frequency is limited (for example, up to three times a day) to prevent malicious triggers. All operations during the change phase are recorded in logs, which are important for checking unusual account behaviour.
Automatic de-use strategy for the hibernation phase
WiFi has a conveniently overlooked phase in the network billing system.——Accounts are dormant. Students leave school in the summer, accounts are not used for long periods but still active, and if the system does not do hibernation, these account numbers take over resources without generating data on use. More troubling is that a sleeping account number may not be detected by the user itself if it is stolen. The system has to configure an automatic hibernation policy.——The account that has not been entered for 30 days automatically becomes dormant and the login in a hibernation state needs to be reactivated.
Data cleansing and retention at the write-off stage
The account write-off is the last link in the life cycle and the most problematic one. When a graduate leaves school, WiFi network billing system is required to write off an account, but write-offs are not deleted. As required by audit requirements, certified logs and billing records of accounts are kept for a certain period (usually more than 60 days), such data must be retained after write-off but cannot be used anymore.——Some schools provide for the continuation of post-school balances, and some allow for backsliding. This strategy requires prior confirmation by the Treasury that it cannot be decided unilaterally by the network centre.
Automation of life-cycle management determines transport efficiency
The WiFi network billing system has a huge load of transportation if it is fully manual. A school for 10,000 students, with thousands of accounts created and written off each semester, can hardly be used in the network centre if each is manually operated.——Auto-opening of accounts after synchronizing the system, automatic bulk write-off during graduation season, and prolonged non-entry into auto-slep. Automation is premised on accurate rules configuration and more incorrect rules have greater impact, so automation needs to be tested on a small scale before it gets online. Automation is not always done once and for all, with regular updates as the school management system changes, such as schools changing the exit process and corresponding account write-off rules being synchronized.