Exploring wireless network security in Auckland City through warwalking field trials

Security is a critical issue in wireless local area networks (WLANs) for many individuals and organizations worldwide, and is one of the main barriers to its adoption in organizations. This paper reports on the current status of WLAN security practices in Auckland's central business district (CBD) through war-walking field trials. It provides an in-depth analysis of field trial data collected since 2004. Our findings show that businesses are adopting more WLANs in recent years than a few years back and the overall growth of WLAN deployment in Auckland CBD is 406% since 2004. We also observed that about 88% of all WLANs detected in August 2010 utilized encryption technology. This shows that an overall 48% increase in the use of encryption protocols since 2004. Finally, we provide guidelines to help businesses in improving their wireless security practices in Auckland City.