Terms And Tips

Wireless Security Standards

WPA2 is second generation WPA, providing Wi-Fi users a high level of assurance that only authorized users can access their wireless networks. WPA2 is based on the final IEEE 802.11i amendment to the 802.11 standard.

WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access is a subset of the 802.11i security standard and is expected to replace WEP. WPA combines Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and 802.1X for dynamic key encryption and mutual authentication.

TKIP Temporal Key Integrity Protocol is part of the IEEE 802.11i encryption standard. TKIP provides per-packet key mixing, a message integrity check, and a re-keying mechanism, fixing the flaws of WEP.

PEAP Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol provides secure transport of authentication data, including passwords and encryption keys. With PEAP, wireless clients can be authenticated without certificates, simplifying the secure wireless LAN architecture.

LEAP Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol, developed by Cisco, is based on the 802.1X authentication framework but addresses several weaknesses using dynamic WEP and sophisticated key management. LEAP also adds MAC address authentication.

802.1X is the IEEE standard for wired and wireless LAN access control. It provides a means of authenticating and authorizing devices attached to a LAN. 802.1X defines the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). EAP uses a central authentication server to authenticate each network user. EAP also has some vulnerabilities.

WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy, the original security standard for wireless LAN s, easily exploited by software that can break the encryption after capturing traffic and recognizing encryption patterns.