Wired Equivalent Privacy

E3014

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is an early and now largely obsolete Wi‑Fi security protocol known for its weak encryption and significant vulnerabilities.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
WEP 8
Wired Equivalent Privacy canonical 6

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Wi‑Fi security protocol
link‑layer security protocol
abbreviation WEP
attackToolExample Aircrack‑ng
WEPCrack
authenticationMethod open system authentication
shared‑key authentication
canBeBrokenWith passive traffic capture
publicly available cracking tools
statistical analysis of packets
compatibility supported by many legacy Wi‑Fi devices
currentBestPractice replace with WPA2 or WPA3
definedInStandard IEEE 802.11
designGoal provide confidentiality comparable to wired networks
doesNotProvideSecurityService replay protection
strong integrity protection
encryptionScope protects data between client and access point
historicalRole first widely deployed Wi‑Fi security mechanism
introducedInStandard IEEE 802.11-1997
linked to: IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11b
linked to: IEEE 802.11
keyDistribution manual
keyManagementType pre‑shared key
keyReuse common across multiple clients
operatesAtLayer data link layer
perception initially believed to provide strong security
providesSecurityService access control
confidentiality
recommendation should not be used for sensitive data
regulatoryStatus discouraged by Wi‑Fi Alliance
status deprecated
obsolete
supersededBy IEEE 802.11i
WPA
WPA2
Wi‑Fi Protected Access
usesEncryptionAlgorithm RC4 stream cipher
usesInitializationVectorLength 24‑bit IV
usesIntegrityCheck CRC‑32
usesKeyLength 104‑bit key
40‑bit key
usesKeyType static symmetric key
vulnerability IV reuse
bit‑flipping attacks
key recovery attacks
no protection against replay attacks
short initialization vector
weak integrity check using CRC‑32
weak key scheduling in RC4

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (14)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

IEEE 802.11 securityMechanism Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wired Equivalent Privacy abbreviation WEP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi‑Fi Protected Access follows Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi‑Fi Protected Access replaces WEP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi‑Fi Protected Access providesStrongerSecurityThan Wired Equivalent Privacy
RC4 usedIn WEP
subject linked to: RC4 stream cipher
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
Aircrack-ng canCrackEncryption WEP
subject linked to: Aircrack‑ng
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi‑Fi usesSecurityProtocol WEP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
chopchop attack usesEncryptionScheme Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi‑Fi CERTIFIED WPA2 predecessor Wired Equivalent Privacy
AES-CCMP moreSecureThan WEP
subject linked to: AES‑CCMP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
IEEE 802.11i replaces Wired Equivalent Privacy
IEEE 802.11i replaces WEP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy
IEEE 802.11i improvesOver WEP
linked to: Wired Equivalent Privacy