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WEPFrom CryptoDox, The Online Encyclopedia on Cryptography and Information SecurityWEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy is the IEEE 802.11 standard's encryptin standard that is implemented in the MAC layer. WEP is optional, i.e., it need not be enabled in the wireless network. It is adviced that when a Wireless LAN is deployed, one must fully understand the needs of security and how to enable it. Be it WEP, WPA or WPA2, or any other security standard for that matter.
WEP at workWhen WEP is enabled, every packet sent is encrypted. Each packet is encrypted with an RC4 stream cipher generated by an encryption key. The key is made up of a 24-bit initialization vector (IV) and either a 40-bit or 104-bit WEP key that's usually set by your wireless device. The total key length is either 64 or 128-bits. The packet that is sent out is basically an XOR of the data and the RC4 key. Since the IV is only 24-bits long, WEP can generate only 16,777,216 different RC4 encryption streams for every key. This is not sufficient and the reason why WEP is not considered a very secure encryption standard. This is the reason why one must look beyond WEP nowadays. We have WPA which is considered far more secure. Tools to Hack into Wireless LANsIf not configured correctly, the WLAN's WEP isn't good enough to protect our data. There are many freely available programs that can enable one to break in WLAN's. See AlsoExternal Links |