Dr Chris Imafidon and Johnnes Arreymbi

Chris Imafidon and Johnnes Arreymbi

Geofencing technology
Providing wireless network security

Award-winning academics, Dr Chris Imafidon and Johnnes Arreymbi are pioneering researchers in the growing field of security networks. “We live in a world of mobile wireless technology. As the use of mobile devices grows the issue of wireless access and privacy is becoming increasingly important,” says Dr Imafidon.

Certainly the IT industry acknowledges its growing importance as both academics have been recently recognised for their ground-breaking work on wireless security solutions by the prestigious BCS UK IT industry awards. The UEL research team, comprising Dr Anthony Ijeh, Dr Imafidon, and Mr Arreymbi were named as finalists in the Research and Development Achievement of the Year category.

The team’s project uses geofencing as a security strategy model to provide a security solution that protects wireless networks from unauthorised access by preventing the leakage of the radio waves across an organisation's geographical network space.

“Most issues arising in wireless communication can be linked to the privacy and security of confidential information. This is due to data from wireless networks being transmitted between devices via radio waves, which are susceptible to interception. Solutions have been sought for these problems in transmission with, for example, the emergence of Information Technology Governance (ITG) and Wi-Fi Protected Access Protocols (WPA2) as possible answers. However, existing research has suggested that the current standards and protocols being used to secure sensitive data can only be considered secure until the next protocol is released” explains Arreymbi.

“Wireless networks continue to be vulnerable regardless of current encryption and protocols in use. Hacking and intrusion is a global problem and security breaches are increasing. Our Geofencing Project is not only innovative, it is also a solution to a very real problem.”