April 04, 2007

Don't use WEP, say German security researchers

Researchers have discovered a faster way to crack the Wi-Fi security protocol

Another way to defeat attacks like that of the Darmstadt researchers, which use statistical techniques to identify a number of possible keys and then select the one most likely to be correct for further analysis, is to hide the real security key in a cloud of dummy ones. That's the approach taken by AirDefense Inc. in its WEP Cloaking product, which was released Monday. The technique means that businesses can cost-effectively protect networks using old hardware, such as point-of-sale systems, without the need to upgrade every terminal or base station, the company said.

If your network supports WPA encryption, though, you should use that instead of WEP to protect your private data, Tews said.

"Depending on your skills, it will cost you some minutes to some hours to switch your network to WPA. If it would cost you more than some hours of work if such private data becomes public, then you should not use WEP anymore," he said.

 

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