NT1110
Analysis 3: WEP, WPA, WPA2 05/13/2014

* Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP):
WEP is the original encryption protocol developed for wireless networks. As the name implies, WEP was supposed to be as secure as a wired network. However, WEP has many security flaws, is difficult to configure and is easily hacked. The Wi-Fi Alliance officially retired WEP in 2004.
Due to US restrictions, many manufactures were limited to making their devices 64 bit. It was not until these restrictions were lifted that it was increased to 128 bit. Even though 256 bit was introduced, 128 bit remains the most common. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA):
WPA was made as something better to use instead of WEP while 802.11i wireless security standard was being developed. Current use of WPA uses a preshared key (PSK) also known as WPA Personal and the Temporary Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) for its encryption. WPA used the 256 bit keys that are a huge improvement over WEP’s 64 bit. One of the significant changes was integrity checks that would determine if an attacker had captured or altered packets. WPA, like its predecessor WEP both have been shown in public demonstrations to be vulnerable to intrusion. Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2)
WPA2 officially replaced WPA in 2006. One of the biggest differences between WPA and WPA2 was the mandatory use of AES algorithms and the introduction of CCMP (Counter Cipher Mode with Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol). WPA2 is the best encryption available for wireless networks but is still vulnerable to attacks through the WiFi Protected Setup (WPS). Although it can take a great deal of time to attack a WPA/WPA2 secured network, it still has some legitimate security concerns and the WPS should be disabled.