Is WEP or WAP better for security?

Question

What option do you think is better?

I was wondering if WAP is better for wireless security because I heard WEP got cracked and now I thought I heard now theres certain software that can crack WEP. Should I use WAP or WEP?

and if WAP should I use a over 30 chracter password for WAP?

Answer 1

WEP is worthless. It has been broken. WPA is OK and should protect your info. WPA2 is unbreakable and is the best. Long passwords are not always the answer. A shorter password with a good mixture of Letters, Numbers and symbols (like underscores) can be a strong password. I.e. The Beachboys= _47_2e_ch0o_s this is a very strong password. There is little indication as to what the password is. It will be difficult for a computer to break. Notice I said difficult not impossible. Nothing is impossible. Impossible just takes longer.

Also remember that many sites limit your password to less than 20 characters.

This is a copy and paste of a Kim Komando Newsletter about Wi-Fi encryption.

Q. Mom is 89 and moving to an apartment in senior housing. She can't live without her computer. The home encourages wireless Internet, although she can get cable Internet. Her banking and investments are done online. How safe is wireless in such close quarters? And is wireless as fast as cable, considering possibly 100 of her neighbors may be connected to the same system?

A. Your mom is 89 and she's doing her banking and investing online? That is wonderful!

You raise some interesting questions. They apply not only to senior housing, but also apartment complexes, dormitories, co-ops and any place where large numbers of people live in close proximity.

First of all, banks and brokerages use their own encryption. It works with the Internet browser your mother uses. So, assuming she keeps her software updated, no one is going to intercept and read those transmissions. Today's computers are not capable of breaking that encryption.

However, other things, such as e-mail and Web browsing, are not encrypted automatically. Your mom probably doesn't want people snooping into her personal business. So she has to depend on encryption in the wireless (Wi-Fi) system, if she uses that.

To explain this, I've got to hit you with some acronyms. There are three encryption standards for wireless—WEP, WPA and WPA2.

WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. It's worthless. WEP is easily intercepted and broken. Really, it is worse than worthless. People who use it may be misled into believing they are protected. They are not.

WPA stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access. This protocol was developed because the Wi-Fi Alliance realized that WEP offered no protection. WPA was an interim standard, used until the Wi-Fi Alliance formalized a protocol to replace WEP. There is some debate about whether it can be broken. I think it is adequate, but I prefer WPA2.

WPA2 is the second generation of WPA. It is currently unbreakable. It also is state-of-the-art in wireless encryption. This is my preference for encryption.

Without encryption, or if WEP is used, most of your mother's transmissions could be read. Who would do that? I'd say if you put 100 people on a system, and they have time of their hands, a few will start messing around.

The wireless signal also may stray outside the complex. Heaven knows who might intercept it. They also could read her transmissions.

WPA and WPA2 will protect your mother's transmissions both inside and outside. So, you need to ask the system administrator at the housing center about encryption. If it is WEP, or if there is no encryption, she should not use the Wi-Fi system. WPA is OK; WPA2 is better.

You should also ask the system administrator about speed. The wireless system is probably hooked up to the Internet through a cable or telephone company. Speed is going to depend on the capacity of the lines. I can't address that from here.

Even if your mother has her own cable connection, it could still be slow. Sharing bogs things down. If the wireless setup is using the same cable system, it may be much slower than what she has now.

All of these questions must be discussed with the system administrator. If the "system administrator" is a complex employee who runs the network on the side, beware. If you get a bad feeling about security, go with the individual cable hookup. You also could talk to the telephone company about an individual DSL connection.

When you get into wireless, you'll find there are several Wi-Fi standards. That's another bunch of numbers and letters. Rather than get into that here, you'll find an explanation on my site.

Answer 2

"WEP is wireless encryption, but has been broken and should not be relied upon for anything that requires any level of security beyond Internet surfing. WAP (the WAP Forum is now known as OMA) is an open standard for developing mobile devices to interoperate together. Unless your company designs mobile devices or software that is used on those devices, it will likely be an issue only when choosing new mobile device features (for example, do I want to play video on my mobile phone?).

"When it comes to security, I would concentrate my efforts on IPsec (ensuring authentication of the connecting machines) and VPN (data encryption). You may also want to use certificate services and 802.1x to authorize devices on your network. If you are running a Microsoft domain, you can use group policies to administer the devices (even non-Microsoft wireless access points.). Microsoft has articles on utilizing 802.1x in group policies."

Answer 3

WPA is an encryption algorithm that takes care of a lot of the vunerablities inherent in WEP. While WPA is a newer technology, it is far more secure and harder to break.

No matter how long your WEP key is, WPA will always be a more secure system. WPA offers a far better algorithm and until a better wireless algorithm emerges it will always be superior.

Answer 4

WPA-PSK offers greater security than WEP for wireless networks.

WEP or "Wireless Encryption Protocol" employs a combination of letters in the range of "A - F" and numbers in the range of "0 - 9." With a little time and readily available tools, even a 128bit WEP Key can be compromised by a determined intruder.

WPA-PSK or "WiFi Protected Access-Pre Shared Key" is extra-strong encryption that employs a "user defined pass phrase" rather than a pre-defined limited combination of letters and numbers.
The infinite number of possible "pass phrases" makes wireless networks that are protected by WPA-PSK unattractive targets to potential intruders.

Answer 5

( you probably mean WEP or WPA )
you definitely want to use WPA, however.

WEP has design flaws that can be easily exploited independent of the size of the key.

WPA does not have the same design weaknesses, and so is a better choice, even if your device does not support as long a key for WPA as it does for WEP.

it's important that you use a good password, one with lots of random content in it. a long password that is predictable (because it's a dictionary word or something like that) is less effective than a shorter, randomized one.

Answer 6

WEP is for Wi-Fi and WAP is used widely in Mobiles. Its more like asking " Do i want to eat lunch or should i just see a movie?"

Answer 7

WPA is better.
Use a long password that you can remember, dont focused on whether it's over 30 chars or not.

Answer 8

i use a wep with a 20 digit code to use it.never been broken it.