Three-dimensional wireless heat mapping and security assessment using multi-rotor aerial drones

Wireless networks are well known to be at risk a variety of attacks and/or monitoring by malicious users. Much effort has been put into developing encryption and authentication protocols for these networks, yet time has shown that weaknesses are frequently found in their implementation. For this reason, many organizations conduct site surveys to measure signal strength at various locations surrounding the premises. In this paper, we show how a multi-rotor aerial drone can effectively and quickly perform a 3D site assessment. 3D site assessments, unlike traditional assessments measure signal strength at varying altitudes that might otherwise be overlooked. We demonstrate a low-cost platform that can perform these surveys and demonstrate how it can also be used in finding other security concerns such as rogue access points within an organization. We also analyze a number of ways to visualize the results.