Strategies for resolving security and interference issues in 802.11 wireless computer networking : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis presents the outcomes of the research and development of strategies to improve 802.11 wireless networking security, reduce interference, and investigation into the trends of home users in the city limits of Palmerston North, New Zealand. The main contributions of the research are several types of improvement strategies that reduce interference, add additional layers of security to 802.11, and reports on wireless trends. The thesis begins with an overview of the current 802.11 security protocols and related issues. The current state of the 802.11 security is presented along with an assessment of efficacy of 802.11. Lastly, the motivations for improving security and reducing interference are explained. The main improvement presented within the thesis is that of client filtering. The operation of filtering is explained. Using methods from other filtering protocols its shown that how an additional layer of security can be added to 802.11. Following this, more improvements are shown that can be used with or without client filtering. The use of smart aerials, wizards and frequency selective materials is discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of each are highlighted, as well as the aspects and issues of implementing the strategies on a home personal computer based platform are presented. This is followed by a description of the experiments conducted into attenuation and direction sensing. The results of the experiments are presented along with the discussion. Finally, conclusions about the improvements are detailed and the results shown, in addition to research conducted on the trends of 802.11 users to further highlight the need for this research

Locational wireless and social media-based surveillance

The number of smartphones and tablets as well as the volume of traffic generated by these devices has been growing constantly over the past decade and this growth is predicted to continue at an increasing rate over the next five years. Numerous native features built into contemporary smart devices enable highly accurate digital fingerprinting techniques. Furthermore, software developers have been taking advantage of locational capabilities of these devices by building applications and social media services that enable convenient sharing of information tied to geographical locations. Mass online sharing resulted in a large volume of locational and personal data being publicly available for extraction. A number of researchers have used this opportunity to design and build tools for a variety of uses – both respectable and nefarious. Furthermore, due to the peculiarities of the IEEE 802.11 specification, wireless-enabled smart devices disclose a number of attributes, which can be observed via passive monitoring. These attributes coupled with the information that can be extracted using social media APIs present an opportunity for research into locational surveillance, device fingerprinting and device user identification techniques. This paper presents an in-progress research study and details the findings to date

Wireless body sensor networks for health-monitoring applications

This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Physiological Measurement. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0967-3334/29/11/R01

Landscape Study in Wireless and Mobile Learning in the post-16 sector

In the post-16 sector (further and higher education, and adult and community learning) there is a need to understand how wireless and mobile technologies can contribute to improving the student experience of learning, and help institutions fulfil their missions in an age of incomparably fast technological change. In the context of this interest and growing need, a Landscape Study project was commissioned by JISC through the Innovation strand of the JISC e-Learning Programme in 2004-5. Our project aims were to take a birds-eye view of developments and practice in the UK and internationally, and to communicate our findings to a broad and varied audience. The Summary report is accompanied by 3 associated reports on 'Current Uses', 'Potential Uses' and 'Strategic Aspects'. (The four reports are available in one single document here.

M-Commerce Implementation in Nigeria: Trends and Issues

Nigeria was described as the fastest growing telecoms nation in Africa and the third in the World. The country had experienced a phenomenal growth from a teledensity of 0.49 in 2000 to 25.22 in 2007. This trend has brought about a monumental development in the major sectors of the economy, such as banking, telecoms and commerce in general. This paper presents the level of adoption of ICT in the banking sector and investigates the prospects of m-Commerce in Nigeria based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. Findings revealed that all banks in Nigeria offer e-Banking services and about 52% of the offer some forms of m-Banking services. The banks and the telecoms operators have enormous potentials and opportunities for m-Commerce but the level of patronage, quality of cell phones, lack of basic infrastructure and security issues pose a major threat to its wide scale implementation