WEP vs WPA - What is better solution?
WEP vs WPA – which to use? The answer for this question is very easy - WPA!
Here you can check how scientists have cracked WEP in less than 60 seconds. WEP, which has been used from 1999, has never deserved its name - Wired Equivalent Privacy. | WPA has opened a new page in WLAN security. Wi-Fi Alliance has launched WPA in October 2003. You can use the same equipment, with much better security option – WPA. The only thing you need to do is to upgrade the software and firmware. | | Main weaknesses of WEP are:
1) The same IV (initialization vector) can be used more than once. This feature makes WEP very vulnerable, especially to collision-based attacks.
2) With IV of 24 bits, you only have about 16.7 million of possible combinations.
3) Masters keys, instead of temporary keys, are directly used.
4 Most users usually do not change their keys. This gives hackers more time to crack the encryption.
Advantages of WPA over WEP are:
1) Length of IV (initialization vector) is now 48, comparing to WEP’s 24. This gives you over 500 trillion possible key combinations.
2) IV has much better protection with better encryption methods. This is prevention of reuse of IV keys.
3) Master keys are never directly used.
4) Better key management.
5) Impressive message integrity checking.
When you take all this into account, you can see that WPA is much better solution for your wireless network.
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