How to Protect Your Private Information by Understanding the Difference Between WEP and WPA

Wireless routers and networks by their nature, allow popular wireless devices such as the iPod Touch, to be coupled to the Internet after dark physical boundaries of buildings. Unlike a wired network, these networks could be detected and hacked when they are not properly secured.

Features of WEP

The first attempts at adding security to wireless networks was based on a 10-character (40-bit) encryption step to secure data and is known as the "Wired Equivalent Privacy" (WEP) security standard. Subsequent industry developments also introduced a 26-character (104-bit) key length that is certainly also used in combination with WEP to produce the key stronger plus much more tough to crack.

WEP works on the static key, which does not change, to encrypt and decrypt data traffic. WEP is often a shared key and won't change once it really is set through the user. It is this static nature of WEP that makes it a weaker security standard in comparison to the "Wi-Fi Protected Access" (WPA) standard.

Why WPA Is Better

WPA is really a significant improvement, plus much more secure than WEP. It requires a pass phrase to be setup through the user and has dynamic shared keys that automatically change constantly. The pass phrase allows you to authenticate authorized users prior to usage of your wireless network. This makes it harder for any hacker to crack your network. The pass phrase is usually setup with a wireless router and is only known by trusted users. Security professionals generally consider WPA to become a secure wireless protocol. However, WPA is not a perfect standard, but it really is better than WEP for work at home networks.

Wi-Fi Access Points Have Risks

Wi-Fi access points in many cases are setup with wireless routers which may have the manufacturers default configuration set to broadcast the Service Set Identifier (SSID). The SSID of an wireless network is utilized to distinguish it business nearby networks. This feature can also be helpful if you want guests to locate and rehearse your network, but it also advertises your network presence to hackers leaving your network prone to potential attacks.

If you wish to hide your wireless network, then it's best to disable SSID broadcasting. Public Wi-Fi hotspots allow many guests to make use of a similar network thus are certainly not ideal for transmitting private and sensitive information. These public wireless networks generally do not offer encryption and other types of advanced protection so as to allow a broader range of wireless devices in order to connect easily.

Recommendations

Without a secured network, your details are at risk and also you could turned into a victim of hackers. You should never use WEP to shield your wireless network as it is not sufficiently secure enough. The objective is to harden security in order to avoid, or at least deter, hackers from breaching your network. Use the WPA protocol at the very least with wireless networks and wireless devices and do not share private data over an unsecured public Wi-Fi network to protect your private and sensitive information from hackers.