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4.2.5.4 SSID
From the 506 WLANs detected, 25 WLANs or 5% of the overall data were running
with blank SSID, while 481 WLANs or 95% of the overall data broadcasted their SSID.
From the 25 WLANs with blank SSID, only 17 applied encryption. For WLANs with
broadcasted SSID, 359 WLANs applied encryption. This result is represented in Table
4.13. Applying blank SSID could be a security measure taken by the WLAN users in
Auckland CBD. However, by not combining that technique with WEP or WPA
encryption will still make the WLANs vulnerable to attacks unless other kinds of
security measure are in place.
SSID Blank SSID Broadcasted
SSID
Total encryption
Encryption On 17 359 376
Encryption Off 8 122 130
Total SSID detected 25 481
4.3 Summary
Table 4.13 Actual SSID status in Auckland CBD
This research has identified that the number of WLANs detected in Auckland CBD has
increased by 114.41% from 2004 to 2007. A total of 506 WLANs were detected in this
research while only 236 WLANs were detected by Lin et al. in 2004. It was also
identified that 74.31% of WLANs detected in this research had the encryption on while
only 39.83% in 2004. This shows an increment of encryption implementation in
Auckland CBD by 86.56% between 2004 and 2007. The data collected in this research
also shows that WLANs without any encryption have drop by 57.30% between 2004
and 2007. The number of IBSS has also dropped by 55.30% in 2007 when compared to
2004 while ESS has increased by a mere 6.26%. The research findings are summarized
in Table 4.14.
Field Trials
Results
2004
Total %
2007
Total %
Increment Decrement
Total WLANs 236 - 506 - 114.41 -
Encryption On 94 39.83 376 74.31 86.56 -
Encryption Off 142 60.17 130 25.69 - 57.30
IBSS 24 10.17 23 4.55 - 55.30
ESS 212 89.83 483 95.45 6.26 -
Table 4.14 Comparison of Field Trials Results on 2004 and 2007
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