2. WEP
• WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is the oldest and most common Wi-Fi security
protocol. It was the privacy component established in the IEEE 802.11, a set of
technical standards that aimed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN)
with a comparable level of security to a wired local area network (LAN).
• The Wi-Fi Alliance ratified WEP as a security standard in 1999. Once touted to
offer the same security benefits as a wired connection, WEP has been plagued
over the years by many security flaws. And as computing power has increased,
these vulnerabilities have worsened. Despite efforts to improve WEP, it’s still
vulnerable to security breaches. The Wi-Fi Alliance officially retired WEP in 2004.
3. WEP
• Pros:
• Better than no security protocol — though not by much
• Cons:
• Riddled with security vulnerabilities
• Only 64-bit and 128-bit keys for encryption
• Fixed-key encryption
• Hard to configure
4. WPA
• ADV
• Addresses security vulnerabilities of the original wireless security standard, WEP
• TKIP encryption method is better than the fixed-key encryption used by WEP
• 256-bit key for encryption
• Cons:
• When rolled out onto WEP devices, TKIP can be exploited
• Similar security vulnerabilities to WEP
5. WAP 2
• WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) is the second generation of the Wi-Fi Protected
Access wireless security protocol. Like its predecessor, WPA2 was designed to secure
and protect Wi-Fi networks. WPA2 ensures that data sent or received over your
wireless network is encrypted, and only people with your network password have
access to it.
• A benefit of the WPA2 system was that it introduced the Advanced Encryption System
(AES) to replace the more vulnerable TKIP system used in the original WPA protocol.
Used by the US government to protect classified data, AES provides strong
encryption.
• Unfortunately, like it’s predecessor, WPA2-enabled access points (usually routers) are
vulnerable to attacks through WEP. To eliminate this attack vector, disable WEP and, if
possible, make sure your router’s firmware doesn’t rely on WEP.
6. WAP 2
• Pros:
• Addresses many security flaws of its predecessors
• Uses the strongest encryption method: AES
• Required by the Wi-Fi Alliance for use on all Wi-Fi certified products
• 256-bit key for encryption
• Cons:
• Still contains some security vulnerabiliLITES
7. WAP 3
• WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) is the newest wireless security protocol designed
to encrypt data using a frequent and automatic encryption type called Perfect
Forward Secrecy. It’s more secure than its predecessor, WPA2, but it hasn’t been
widely adopted yet. Not all hardware supports WPA3 automatically, and using this
protocol often requires costly upgr
8. KEY DIFFERNCE
• WEP protocol was released in 1999.
• WPA also called WiFi Protected Access was released in 2003
• WPA2 standard was ratified by IEEE in 2004
• WPA3 was released in 2018
9. SUPPORTED AUTHENTICATION
• WEP supports two authentication methods, Open System authentication
and Shared Key authentication.
• WPA uses pre-shared key and 802.1x authentication, which are more secure than
64-bit and 128-bit keys used by WEP.
• WPA2 is currently the most secure standard utilizing AES and a pre-shared key for
authentication.
• WPA3 uses Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to provide stronger
defenses against password guessing.
10. SUPPORTED ENCRYPTION
• WEP encrypts traffic using RC4 stream cypher.
• WPA uses RC4 but adds longer 256-bit keys to encrypt data.
• WPA2 replaces RC4 and TKIP with CCMP and AES algorithm for stronger
encryption.
• WPA3 uses Advanced Encryption Standard mechanism for encryption.
11. KEY MANAGEMENT
• WEP has not got any features.
• WPA uses four way handshake mechanism.
• WPA2 also uses four way handshake mechanism.
• WPA3 uses Simultaneous Auhtentication of Equals handshake mechanism.
12. SUPPORTED CIPHER TYPE
• WEP and WPA uses stream cipher while WPA2 and WPA3 uses block cipher type.
Session Key Size
• WEP uses a shared secret key, which is 40 bits in length.
• WPA and WPA2 uses 128 bit session key.
• WPA3 uses 128 bit for personal use and 192 bit for enterprise use.
• Thank you for reading WEP vs WPA vs WPA2 vs WPA3 – WiFi Security Protocols
