Wpa2 Aes Key Length Cracked WEP Passwords

Although breaking into a WPAWPA2 secured network using this vulnerability requires anywhere from 2-14 hours of sustained effort with a modern computer, it is still a legitimate security concern.

Read on as we highlight the differences between protocols like WEP, WPA, and WPA2and why it matters which acronym you slap on your home Wi-Fi network.

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.

As is the case with all security standards, increasing computer power and exposed vulnerabilities have rendered older Wi-Fi standards at risk.

Its your network, its your data, and if someone hijacks your network for their illegal hijinks, itll be your door the police come knocking on.

Understanding the differences between security protocols and implementing the most advanced one your router can support (or upgrading it if it cant support current gen secure standards) is the difference between offering someone easy access to your home network and not.

A stroll through the history of Wi-Fi security serves to highlight both whats out there right now and why you should avoid older standards.

This is a function of age, backwards compatibility, and the fact that it appears first in the protocol selection menus in many router control panels.

The first versions of WEP werent particularly strong, even for the time they were released, because U.S.

When the restrictions were lifted, it was increased to 128-bit.

Despite the introduction of 256-bit WEP, 128-bit remains one of the most common implementations.

As computing power increased, it became easier and easier to exploit those flaws.

Wpa2 Aes Key Length Cracked WEP Passwords

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 WEPs weaknesses) where they cracked WEP passwords in minutes using freely available software.

Systems that rely on WEP should be upgraded or, if security upgrades are not an option, replaced.

WPA was formally adopted in 2003, a year before WEP was officially retired.

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.

TKIP employs a per-packet key system that was radically more secure than the fixed key system used by WEP.

The TKIP encryption standard was later superseded by Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

TKIP, a core component of WPA, was designed to be easily rolled out via firmware upgrades onto existing WEP-enabled devices.

As such, it had to recycle certain elements used in the WEP system which, ultimately, were also exploited.

One of the most significant changes between WPA and WPA2 is 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.

However, TKIP is still preserved in WPA2 as a fallback system and for interoperability with WPA.

As such, the security implications of the known WPA2 vulnerabilities are limited almost entirely to enterprise level networks and deserve little to no practical consideration in regard to home network security.