Some of the significant changes implemented with WPA included message integrity checks (to determine if an attacker had captured or altered packets passed between the access point and client) and the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). The keys used by WPA are 256-bit, a significant increase over the 64-bit and 128-bit keys used in the WEP system. WPA was formally adopted in 2003, a year before WEP was officially retired. The most common WPA configuration is WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key). Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) was the Wi-Fi Alliance’s direct response and replacement to the increasingly apparent vulnerabilities of the WEP standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance officially retired WEP in 2004. Systems that rely on WEP should be upgraded or, if security upgrades are not an option, replaced.
#Wi 2006 cracked
As early as 2001, proof-of-concept exploits were floating around, and by 2005, the FBI gave a public demonstration (in an effort to increase awareness of WEP’s weaknesses) where they cracked WEP passwords in minutes using freely available software.ĭespite various improvements, work-arounds, and other attempts to shore up the WEP system, it remains highly vulnerable. As computing power increased, it became easier and easier to exploit those flaws. A stroll through the history of Wi-Fi security serves to highlight both what’s out there right now and why you should avoid older standards.ĭespite revisions to the protocol and an increased key size, over time numerous security flaws were discovered in the WEP standard. Since the late 1990s, Wi-Fi security protocols have undergone multiple upgrades, with outright deprecation of older protocols and significant revision to newer protocols. WEP, WPA, and WPA2: Wi-Fi Security Through the Ages Understanding the differences between security protocols and implementing the most advanced one your router can support (or upgrading it if it can’t support current gen secure standards) is the difference between offering someone easy access to your home network and not. It’s your network, it’s your data, and if someone hijacks your network for their illegal hijinks, it’ll be your door the police come knocking on. As is the case with all security standards, increasing computer power and exposed vulnerabilities have rendered older Wi-Fi standards at risk. What does it matter what the little acronym next to the security protocol you chose was? As it turns out, it matters a whole lot. You did what you were told to do, you logged into your router after you purchased it and plugged it in for the first time, and set a password. Read on as we highlight the differences between protocols like WEP, WPA, and WPA2-and why it matters which acronym you slap on your home Wi-Fi network. Even if you know you need to secure your Wi-Fi network (and have already done so), you probably find all the security protocol acronyms a little bit puzzling.
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