You are an ethical hacker contracted to conduct a security audit for a company. During the audit, you discover that the company's wireless network is using WEP encryption. You understand the vulnerabilities associated with WEP and plan to recommend a more secure encryption method. Which of the following would you recommend as a Suitable replacement to enhance the security of the company's wireless network?
Suggested Answer: B
WEP encryption is an outdated and insecure method of protecting wireless networks from unauthorized access and eavesdropping.WEP uses a static key that can be easily cracked by various tools and techniques, such as capturing the initialization vectors, brute-forcing the key, or exploiting the weak key scheduling algorithm1. Therefore, you should recommend a more secure encryption method to enhance the security of the company's wireless network.
One of the most suitable replacements for WEP encryption is WPA2-PSK with AES encryption. WPA2 stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2, which is a security standard that improves upon the previous WPA standard. WPA2 uses a robust encryption algorithm called AES, which stands for Advanced Encryption Standard.AES is a block cipher that uses a 128-bit key and is considered to be very secure and resistant to attacks2.
WPA2-PSK stands for WPA2 Pre-Shared Key, which is a mode of WPA2 that uses a passphrase or a password to generate the encryption key. The passphrase or password must be entered by the users who want to connect to the wireless network. The key is then derived from the passphrase or password using a function called PBKDF2, which stands for Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2.PBKDF2 adds a salt and a number of iterations to the passphrase or password to make it harder to crack3.
WPA2-PSK with AES encryption offers several advantages over WEP encryption, such as:
It uses a dynamic key that changes with each session, instead of a static key that remains the same.
It uses a stronger encryption algorithm that is more difficult to break, instead of a weaker encryption algorithm that is more vulnerable to attacks.
It uses a longer key that provides more security, instead of a shorter key that provides less security.
It uses a more secure key derivation function that adds complexity and randomness, instead of a simple key generation function that is predictable and flawed.
Therefore, you should recommend WPA2-PSK with AES encryption as a suitable replacement to enhance the security of the company's wireless network.
Wireless Security - Encryption - Online Tutorials Library
WiFi Security: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3 And Their Differences - NetSpot
WPA2-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 Pre-Shared Key)
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