WEP v WP2A

When setting up my desktop device on the wireless network i can't change the
network key to be WPA. It comes up as WEP. I have installed Service Pack 2
and 3 and i still do not have option. HELP!

 

Hi
You have to make sure that the Computers' Wireless cards supports WPA, and
then configure the Wireless Router's security to WPA too.
In general.
From the weakest to the strongest, Wireless security capacity is.
No Security
Switching Off SSID (same has No Security. SSID can be easily sniffed even if
it is Off)
MAC Filtering______(Band Aid if nothing else is available, MAC number can be
easily Spoofed).
WEP64____(Easy, to "Break" by knowledgeable people).
WEP128___(A little Harder, but "Hackable" too).
-------------------
The three above are Not considered safe.
Safe Starts here at WPA.
-------------------
WPA-PSK__(Very Hard to Break).
WPA-AES__(Not functionally Breakable)
WPA2____ (Not functionally Breakable).
Note 1: WPA-AES the the current entry level rendition of WPA2.
Note 2: If you use WinXP bellow SP3 and did not updated it, you would have
to download the WPA2 patch from Microsoft.
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357>
The documentation of your Wireless devices (Wireless Router, and Wireless
Computer's Card) should state the type of security that is available with
your Wireless hardware.
All devices MUST be set to the same security level using the same pass
phrase.
Therefore the security must be set according what ever is the best possible
of one of the Wireless devices.
I.e. even if most of your system might be capable to be configured to the
max. with WPA2, but one device is only capable to be configured to max . of
WEP, to whole system must be configured to WEP.
If you need more good security and one device (like a Wireless card that can
do WEP only) is holding better security for the whole Network, replace the
device with a better one.
Setting Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
The Core differences between WEP, WPA, and WPA2 -
http://www.ezlan.net/wpa_wep.html
Jack (MVP-Networking)..

 

The correct term is WPA2. To use WPA2 security, all of the following must
support WPA2:

- Wireless router
- Operating system (preferably XP with SP3 or later versions)
- Wireless network adapter + driver

 

Easy to break now. The latest news says WPA is broken in a minute when used
with TKIP encryption algorithm.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/082709-new-attack-cracks-common-wi-fi.html

WPA-AES and WPA2-AES are still not breakable at the moment.

 

Pay a visit to the website of your network adaptor manufacturer and
download the latest driver for it.

If you are using xp, then right click My Computer and select
Properties->Hardware(tab)->Device Manager and the network adaptor you
need to seek a driver update for will be listed under network
adapters.


Jim.

 

This article (and especially its headline) overstates the situation. For
example, the method proposed by the Japanese authors is based on a
"man-in-the-middle" attack, and requires that there be no direct
communication between the wireless access point and the wireless client.
In most real-world wifi implementations, this would be difficult to
achieve. Also, as far as I can understand the Japanese paper, its
purpose is to falsify an encrypted short packet (e.g. an Address
Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet), rather than to enable decryption of
data flowing between AP and client.

More importantly, as John notes, this attack (like the one described in
the similar paper published last November) only works with WPA-TKIP.
Although not required by the IEEE standard, many home wifi devices that
do not support WPA2 do support WPA-AES.

Even though it's unlikely that a home wifi network that uses WPA-TKIP
(with a strong password) will be cracked, the handwriting is starting to
appear on the wall. It takes them a while, but the bad guys always catch up.

 

After reading that, I wouldn't say it's easy.

For one thing it's a man in the middle attack and so would require
some fairly serious directional equipment to get "in the middle" to
perform the attack.


Jim.