Can WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol) be easily hacked?
Anyone with a laptop and a wireless network card can sniff encrypted packets as they flow across a wireless network. Depending on the content and structure of captured packets, a hacker simply needs to capture anywhere from 100 MB to 1 GB worth of packets. Such a sampling size guarantees that the hacker will have all of the information he needs to break the WEP encryption. Once the necessary volume of data has been captured, the hacker can simply run a freeware utility against the captured packets to derive the WEP key.
Related Questions
- I have multiple access points and need an easier way to change the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) keys on the units. Can I change the WEP keys through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)?
- I use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and I cannot upgrade the firmware for the Protocol Control Information (PCI) card. What can I do?
- How does WPA compare to Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)?
