Wireless router setup includes setting your security for your network.
Wi-Fi Security - Secure your personal data on your home network
WPA2 is the best choice today.
HistoryWired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was the most widely used Wi-Fi security algorithm in the world.
WEP was ratified as a Wi-Fi security standard in September of 1999. The first versions of WEP weren’t strong, even for the time they were released, because U.S. restrictions on the export of various cryptographic technology led to manufacturers restricting their devices to only 64-bit encryption. When the restrictions were lifted, it was increased to 128-bit.
Despite revisions to the algorithm and an increased key size, over time numerous security flaws were discovered in the WEP standard and, as computing power increased, it became easier and easier to exploit them.
Despite various improvements, work-arounds, and other attempts to shore up the WEP system, it remains highly vulnerable and systems that rely on WEP should be upgraded or, if security upgrades are not an option, replaced. The Wi-Fi Alliance officially retired WEP in 2004.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
Wi-Fi Protected Access was the Wi-Fi Alliance’s direct response and replacement to the increasingly apparent vulnerabilities of the WEP standard. It was formally adopted in 2003. The most common WPA configuration is WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key). The keys used by WPA are 256-bit, a significant increase over the 64-bit and 128-bit keys used in the WEP system.
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). TKIP employs a per-packet key system that was radically more secure than fixed key used in the WEP system. TKIP was later superseded by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
WPA, like its predecessor WEP, has been shown via both proof-of-concept and public demonstrations to be vulnerable.
Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2)
WPA has, as of 2006, been officially superseded by WPA2. One of the most significant changes 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) as a replacement for TKIP (still preserved in WPA2 as a fallback system and for interoperability with WPA).
Currently, the primary security vulnerability to WPA2 is an obscure one (and requires the attacker to already have access to the secured Wi-Fi network in order to gain access to certain keys and then perpetuate an attack against other devices on the network). As such, the security implications of the known WPA2 vulnerabilities are limited almost entirely to enterprise level networks and deserve little practical consideration in regard to home network security.
Best to Worst - Wi-Fi security
Best - WPA2 + AES
2nd best - WPA + AES
Vulnerable - WPA + TKIP/AES
Vulnerable - WPA + TKIP
Outdated - WEP officially retired in 2004
Worst - Open Network (no security at all)
Wi-Fi Security - Secure your personal data on your home network
WPA2 is the best choice today.
HistoryWired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was the most widely used Wi-Fi security algorithm in the world.
WEP was ratified as a Wi-Fi security standard in September of 1999. The first versions of WEP weren’t strong, even for the time they were released, because U.S. restrictions on the export of various cryptographic technology led to manufacturers restricting their devices to only 64-bit encryption. When the restrictions were lifted, it was increased to 128-bit.
Despite revisions to the algorithm and an increased key size, over time numerous security flaws were discovered in the WEP standard and, as computing power increased, it became easier and easier to exploit them.
Despite various improvements, work-arounds, and other attempts to shore up the WEP system, it remains highly vulnerable and systems that rely on WEP should be upgraded or, if security upgrades are not an option, replaced. The Wi-Fi Alliance officially retired WEP in 2004.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
Wi-Fi Protected Access was the Wi-Fi Alliance’s direct response and replacement to the increasingly apparent vulnerabilities of the WEP standard. It was formally adopted in 2003. The most common WPA configuration is WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key). The keys used by WPA are 256-bit, a significant increase over the 64-bit and 128-bit keys used in the WEP system.
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). TKIP employs a per-packet key system that was radically more secure than fixed key used in the WEP system. TKIP was later superseded by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
WPA, like its predecessor WEP, has been shown via both proof-of-concept and public demonstrations to be vulnerable.
Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2)
WPA has, as of 2006, been officially superseded by WPA2. One of the most significant changes 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) as a replacement for TKIP (still preserved in WPA2 as a fallback system and for interoperability with WPA).
Currently, the primary security vulnerability to WPA2 is an obscure one (and requires the attacker to already have access to the secured Wi-Fi network in order to gain access to certain keys and then perpetuate an attack against other devices on the network). As such, the security implications of the known WPA2 vulnerabilities are limited almost entirely to enterprise level networks and deserve little practical consideration in regard to home network security.
Best to Worst - Wi-Fi security
Best - WPA2 + AES
2nd best - WPA + AES
Vulnerable - WPA + TKIP/AES
Vulnerable - WPA + TKIP
Outdated - WEP officially retired in 2004
Worst - Open Network (no security at all)
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