A new report from ABI Research says the world is in urgent need of "simpler, more user-friendly security features in consumer Wi-Fi equipment."

ABI analyst Sam Lucero says it's not that consumers don't know they should secure their networks -- they just find it too complicated to actually do so. "Awareness of security issues is becoming widespread among the average consumer," he says. "The complexity of existing security mechanisms is frustrating to many, but they regard it as a problem they just can't solve."

Lucero says the next step has to be the Wi-Fi Alliance's adoption of a standard method for easy security setup. "Simpler security solutions won't necessarily give their creators a big competitive advantage," Lucero advises. "But once the Wi-Fi Alliance settles on a standard, most if not all vendors will adopt it. For everyone's benefit, the industry as a whole should set aside competitive considerations and move as expeditiously as possible to get a security standard in place."

Such a standard, Lucero says, is likely to come before the end of the year.