AIS300 - Scheme of Work - Scholarly Commons Home

In order to answer this question, literature reviews on the IEEE 802.11 technologies and
a set of field trials in Auckland CBD are conducted. The purpose of the literature
review is to investigate and identify the current security loopholes and vulnerabilities of
WLAN technologies. Then, a set of field trials is performed using the wardriving
technique to collect real life WLANs data in Auckland CBD. The research findings are
analysed and compared with previous work (Jeffcoate, Chappell, & Feindt, 2002). The
focus of the data analysis is to identify the differences and progresses with regard to
WLAN security between the year 2004 and year 2007.
3.3 Goal
The goal of this research is to explore WLANs security and collect real-world data
through field trials. The data accumulated from the field trials will be used to analysed
and identify the current status of WLANs security in Auckland CBD.
3.4 The Hypothesis
The majority of WLANs in Auckland CBD are not implementing the minimum required
security measures such as WEP encryption and are therefore vulnerable to network
security attacks. The assumption is that the security awareness among users in
Auckland CBD have increased but not to a satisfactory level since the last wardriving
field trial conducted in 2004 (Jeffcoate, Chappell, & Feindt, 2002).
3.5 Research Design
3.5.1 Location
The location selected for this research is Auckland central business district (CBD). The
exact area for the field trials is the stretch of road known as “Queen Street”. This area
was selected by considering the centralized location and also the high concentration of
small shops and businesses operating there (Hole, Dyrnes, & Thorsheim, 2005). The
location and the paths selected for the field trials are as in Figure 3.1. The field trials
started and ended at the corner of Custom Street and Queen Street. The direction taken
during the study is as shown by the arrows in the map.
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