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WEP Last modified: Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Short for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a security protocol for wireless local area networks (WLANs) defined in the 802.11b standard. WEP is designed to provide the same level of security as that of a wired LAN. LANs are inherently more secure than WLANs because LANs are somewhat protected by the physicalities of their structure, having some or all part of the network inside a building that can be protected from unauthorized access. WLANs, which are over radio waves, do not have the same physical structure and therefore are more vulnerable to tampering. WEP aims to provide security by encrypting data over radio waves so that it is protected as it is transmitted from one end point to another. However, it has been found that WEP is not as secure as once believed. WEP is used at the two lowest layers of the OSI model - the data link and physical layers; it therefore does not offer end-to-end security.
Wired Equivalent Privacy Vulnerability A group of researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Zero-Knowledge Systems have exposed grave flaws with WEP's intended security goals. Making the Most from WEP While WEP encryption is not really good enough for mission critical data, it's still better than nothing for most WLANs. Here's why WEP does what it does, and the elbow grease you can apply to make it more secure. Wireless Privacy: An Oxymoron? ISPs deploying 802.11b for public broadband or fixed wireless Internet access should consider the risks associated with this emerging technology before network security is compromised.	Related Categories Security Wireless Computing Related Terms 802.11 encryption local-area network roaming Wi-Fi WPA