Wireless network (WEP security)

Gardner Bell gbell72-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org
Tue Sep 30 17:44:53 UTC 2003


I've been considering moving to a wireless network system but after many
articles I have read is it really worth it?  One such article I read was on the
WEP algorithm and numerous flaws found by the analysts, such as a
dictionary-building attacks, active attack to inject new traffic from
unauthorized mobile stations, etc. How easily could a
hacker pull off this kind of attack on an 802.11 network?
The initialization vector in WEP I have read is only 24-bit and is sent in
the clear-text part of a message, with only a small amount of initialization
vectors how often would the same key-stream be used on a rather small home
network?  A busy access point, which constantly sends 1500 byte packets at
11Mbps, will exhaust the space of IVs after 1500*8/(11*10^6)*2^24 = ~18000
seconds, or 5 hours.  Would the time increase or decrease using wireless with
Roger's or does it all depend on how much traffic my machines are sending?
What measures have others here taken to secure their wireless networks if any of
you have them and what specific hardware would you recommend?  Any other info
that you could provide would be greatly beneficial.

thanks
 --
Gardner Bell - personal site www.gamecraze.net
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