Wired Equivalent Privacy Protocol
The Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol is better known to Wi-Fi users as WEP. It is one of the security systems available on wireless-enabled computers. The name derives from the intention of its designers at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to give wireless networks the same level of privacy enjoyed by wired networks. The protocol was first produced in 1999, but is no longer recommended for Wi-Fi networks.
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Encryption
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The main element of WEP is encryption. The system aims to protect the radio waves emanating from a wireless network adapter, or a wireless router. This should enshroud all data traveling over that channel as though it were encased inside a network cable. This aim is an important distinction for this system. Most encryption systems apply to a connection, to a business or to an individual. WEP applies to a Wi-Fi router and covers all connections that router makes. This is an unusual method of network security. The standard was soon proven to have a number of flaws, and the Wi-Fi Alliance dropped its support for WEP in 2003 in favor of a newer system called Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).
Network Layers
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Networking theory is organized into the layers of a stack. Lower layers cover physical properties of networks; higher layers deal with data and procedures needed for applications to communicate. Encryption is usually the responsibility of higher layers -- notably, the transport layer or the session layer. WEP exists at the physical layer and the data link layer. These two lower layers do not cover the entire journey of a transmission across the Internet. They apply only to one link in a route, meaning that WEP does not operate outside the boundaries of its own network.
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Consequences
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A secure Web transaction, such as entering credit card details in a web page, uses HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). HTTPS is based on the Transport Layer Security protocol, which also uses encryption. TLS covers the entire journey of data between the customer's computer and the web page's server. Where the customer's computer is connected to a wireless network, all messages are doubly encrypted for the journey across the home wireless network. Any type of transaction that merits encryption requires encryption for the entire journey, not only for one link in the journey. This makes WEP redundant.
Resource Protection
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Most users of WEP security probably don't know that its intention is to provide privacy. The requirement to manually enter the encryption key in the connecting computer makes the key an access restricting measure, preventing uninvited access from nearby computers within range of the Wi-Fi router. The WEP key, however is rarely changed on most domestic Wi-Fi routers. This means that once the key has been passed out, there is no guarantee that the key will not be passed on to others. The owner of the router either has to change the WEP key regularly, or take other security measures to restrict access to the private network.
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References
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