Wireless Network Security : Comparison of WEP (Wired

Equivalent Privacy) Mechanism, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected

Access) and RSN (Robust Security Network) Security
Protocols.

Halil Ibrahim BULBUL Ihsan BATMAZ Mesut OZEL

Gazi University Gazi University Gazi University
06830 Gölbaşõ, Ankara 06500 Beşevler, Ankara 06830 Gölbaşõ, Ankara
+90 312 4851124 +90 312 202 8645 +90 312 4851124
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT according to the participants is security. Although WLAN

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are gaining popularity security seems very challenging, most of the risks could be
as they are fast, cost effective, flexible and easy to use. They addressed by reasonable security precautions. The general
are, however, faced with some serious security challenges and challenges to be addressed are discussed in [4, 5, 6, 7, 8].
the choice of security protocol is a critical issue for IT
administrators. 2. WLAN SECURITY MECHANISMS AND
PROTOCOLS
The goal of this paper is to make the non-specialist reader
aware of the disadvantages and threats of the wireless security 2.1. WLAN Security in General
protocols. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), WPA (Wi-Fi
Protected Access) and RSN (Robust Security Network) security Since WEP is the initial and so-called WLAN security
protocols are examined in this respect. Then they are compared mechanism of all aforementioned protocols, it is aimed to cover
via the common features in order to give some insight to those it in a broader perspective than WPA/WPA2 and RSN. Several
who work with WLANs. We hope this paper give boost to the serious weaknesses were identified by cryptanalysts in WEP,
IT security staff and clarify the common questions of the non- and WEP was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in
specialist reader. 2003, and then by the full IEEE 802.11i standard RSN (also
known as WPA2) in 2004 ratified.
This paper is a compilation of the wireless security weaknesses
and counter measures that are put forward until recently. We 2.2. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Mechanism
believe that a thorough understanding of this paper makes the
non-specialist reader have a complete review of wireless WEP was intended to give wireless users a security scheme that
security and vulnerabilities associated with it. is equivalent to being on a wired network. The main intention of
the WEP was not to provide a level of security superior to or
Key words : Wireless Security, WEP, WPA, WPA2, RSN. higher than that of a wired LAN, but equivalent to it. So the
name of the protocol, "Wireless Equivalent Privacy - WEP"
signifies the actual intention of the developers [9].
1. INTRODUCTION
However, the practice has shown that the level of security
The major difference between wired and wireless networks is offered by WEP hardly equivalent to the level of security
the way that how they transmit data. As for the security risks, provided by wired LANs. Despite the weaknesses in the
the main difference between wired and wireless networks is protocol, some may argue that WEP provides a level of security
how to access to the transmitted data. In wired networks this is that can deter casual snooping.
only possible by tapping the media that is used for the network
communication. In wireless networks the media used for 2.2.1. How WEP works
communication is air. The transmitted data via the radio
frequency can be accessed by equipment that is readily When WEP is active each 802.11 packet is encrypted separately
available in the market for a cheap price. with an RC4 cipher stream generated by a 64-bit RC4 key. This
key is composed of a 24-bit Initialization Vector (IV) and a 40-
From the initial development stages of wireless technology and bit WEP key. The encrypted packet is generated with a bitwise
its security needs, experts knew that security would be the exclusive OR (XOR) of the original packet and the RC4 stream.
major issue. Wireless Networks are inherently less secure than The IV is chosen by the sender and can be changed periodically
traditional wired networks, since they broadcast information so every packet won't be encrypted with the same cipher stream.
into the air and anyone with in the range of and with the right The IV is sent in clear with each packet. An additional 4-byte
equipment can easily intercept those transmissions. It is for sure Integrity Check Value (ICV) is computed on the original packet
that matching all security needs of a wireless network is not an and appended. The ICV is also encrypted with the RC4 cipher
easy task. There are a number of security issues that make stream [10]. How WEP encryption works is depicted in Figure-
securing a WLAN difficult [1]. 1.

The latest studies [2,3] show the reasons for what their motives
are and why organizations implement wireless networks. In
spite of the motives for implementation of wireless networks,
the most important drawback with wireless technology
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e-Forensics 2008, January 21-23, 2008, Adelaide, Australia.
© 2008 ICST 978-963-9799-19-6.
 The bottom line of this statement was that a poor security is
better than no security. And WEP was not intended to be a
solution for all security needs. The statement notes that the
biggest security threat is the failure to use available protection
methods, including WEP [17, 18].

2.2.3. The weaknesses of WEP

-Use of Master keys directly: From the cryptographic point of

view, using master keys directly is not at all recommended.
Master keys should only be used to generate other temporary
Figure -1 WEP Encryption keys. WEP is seriously flawed in this respect.

-Small key size: The key size of the key for WEP is 40 bits,
2.2.2. Vulnerabilities and flaws of WEP which has been cited as one of the major weaknesses of WEP.
In 1997, 40-bit keys were considered to be reasonable for some
As it has been noted earlier, WEP uses the RC4 stream cipher applications. Since the goal was to protect against casual
with a 24- bit Initialization Vector for encryption. The design of eavesdropping, it seemed sufficient at the time. The 802.11
WEP makes the system vulnerable in many areas, and one of standard does not specify any WEP key sizes other than 40 bits.
the weakest parts of WEP is the 24-bit Initialization Vector, But most vendors apply the key size to 104 or 232 bits. But in
which may result in key stream reuse. Key stream reuse in turn either case the RC4 encryption key includes a 24-bit IV. It is for
permits successful cryptanalysis attacks against the cipher text. sure, 104 and 232-bit keys are more resistant to brute-force
So WEP has been accepted as a fail to accomplish security attacks than 40-bit keys but did not resolve the problem.
goals and contains major security flaws [11].
-Lack of key management: Key management is not specified
Another vulnerable aspect of the WEP is the use of CRC-32 in the WEP standard. Since without interoperable key
mechanism used for the integrity check. CRC (Cyclic management, keys will tend to be long-lived and of poor
Redundancy Code) is defined as a class of "checksum" quality. Most wireless networks that use WEP have one single
algorithms that operate by treating any message as a large WEP key shared between every node on the network. Access
binary number and then dividing it in binary without overflow points and client stations must be programmed with the same
by a fixed constant. The remainder is called the "checksum". WEP key. Since the change of keys task is tedious and difficult,
And it is known that CRC is not cryptographically strong and they are rarely changed by the system administrators.
not intended to be used in place of message digest or hash
functions. Due to the nature of CRC, it fails to provide the -Use of RC4: WEP’s RC4 implementation has been considered
required integrity protection. One must keep in mind that the to have weak keys, meaning that there is more correlation
usage of CRC-32 was intended as a security measure in WEP, between the key and the output than there should be.
which isn't true. CRC-32, as being fast, yet is no better solution Determination of which packets were encrypted with weak keys
than a slower and secure solution. is an easy job. Since the first three bytes of the key are taken
from the IV that is sent unencrypted in each packet, this
Weaknesses in the Key Scheduling Algorithm of RC4 are put weakness can be exploited easily by a passive attack.
forward in [12]. A passive cipher-text-only attack against the
key scheduling algorithm of RC4 as used in WEP has been Out of the 16 million IV values available, about 9,000 are
described. By identifying a large number of weak keys, in interesting. They indicate the presence of weak keys. The
which knowledge of a small number of key bits suffices to attacker captures "interesting packets" filtering for IVs that
determine many state and output bits with non-negligible suggest weak keys, then analyzes them and only has to try a
probability. Additionally the first byte generated by the RC4 small number of keys to gain access to the network. Because all
leaks information about individual key bytes. So by analyzing original IP packets start with a known value, it's easy to know
enough WEP-encrypted packets it could be possible to when he/she has the right key. To determine a 104-bit WEP
reconstruct the secret key in WEP. key, he/she has to capture between 2,000 and 4,000 interesting
packets. On a fairly busy network the capture of the interesting
The authentication flaws in the IEEE 802.11 are put forward by 5,000 packets might not pose any difficulty and can be achieved
[13]. Based on the knowledge obtained by [11] it was in a short period of time [15, 17]. Many vendors are now
demonstrated that a simple successful eavesdropping attack implementing new algorithms that simply do not choose weak
against IEEE 802.11 authentication was possible even with IVs since the best defense against this type of attack is not to
WEP on. use weak IV values. But, if just one station, on the network uses
a weak key, then the attack can succeed.
The recovery of the 128 bit secret key used in a network, using
a passive attack technique was mentioned to be successful as in -Reused and small sized IV’s: Regardless of the key size, 24-
[12]. Since standard WEP uses RC4 and IVs improperly, bit long of WEP's IV can only provide 16,777,216 different
applied attack exploited this design failure. So it was concluded RC4 cipher streams for a given WEP key. On a moderately
that 802.11 WEP is totally insecure and that it is the poor busy network this number can be achieved in a few hours and
implementation of reasonable secure technologies (such as reuse of the same IV then becomes unavoidable. In WEP the
RC4) that is responsible for WEP weaknesses [14]. RC4 cipher stream is XOR’ed with the original packet and the
IV is sent in the clear format with each packet. If the RC4
In response to the aforementioned studies [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, cipher stream for a given IV is found, an attacker can decrypt
16] about the insecurity of WEP, WECA has published an subsequent packets that were encrypted with the same IV or can
official statement, clarifying its understanding of the situation. forge packets.

2
Since there are maximum 16,777,216 IV values, how the IV is 2.3. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Protocol
chosen makes a big difference. Unfortunately, WEP doesn't
specify how to choose or how often to change IVs. Some The first wireless security solution for 802.11-based networks,
implementations start the IV at zero and increase it Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), received a great deal of
incrementally for each packet, rolling over back to zero after 16 coverage due to various technical failures in the protocol. So,
million packets have been sent. And some other the standards bodies and industry organizations have been
implementations choose IVs randomly which sounds like a spending a great deal of time and money on developing and
good idea. But it really isn't. With a randomly chosen IV, there deploying next-generation solutions that address growing
is a 50% chance of reuse after less than 5,000 packets as put wireless network security problems. Taking into consideration
forward in [15]. of the vulnerabilities and flaws in WEP, the Wi-Fi (Wireless
Fidelity) Alliance, has created the Wi-Fi Protected Access
-Weakness of ICV algorithm: WEP ICV is based on CRC-32, (WPA) standard which is a subset of the 802.11i draft.
an algorithm for detecting noise and common errors in
transmission. CRC-32 is an excellent checksum for integrity 2.3.1. Enhancements Over WEP
and detecting errors, but it is not a good choice of cryptographic
hash. WPA was designed to improve upon the security feature
deficits of WEP. The technology is designed to work with
The CRC-32 ICV is a linear function of the message meaning existing Wi-Fi products that have been enabled with WEP.
that an attacker can modify an encrypted message and easily fix WPA technology mainly includes three improvements over
the ICV so the message appears authentic. Having able to WEP:
modify encrypted packets provides for a nearly limitless
number of very simple attacks. An attacker can easily make the -Improved data encryption through the Temporal Key
victim's wireless access point decrypt packets for him. This is Integrity Protocol (TKIP). This scrambles the keys using a
simply done by capturing an encrypted packet stream, hashing algorithm and, by adding an integrity-checking feature,
modifying the destination address of each packet to be the ensures that the keys haven’t been tampered with. TKIP, is a
attacker's wired IP address, fixing up the CRC-32, and Temporal Key Hash Function and it is an alternative to WEP
retransmitting the packets over the air to the access point. The that fixes all the security problems and does not require new
access point will happily decrypt the packets and forward them hardware. Like WEP, TKIP uses the RC4 stream cipher as the
to the attacker. IV and ICV based attacks are independent of the encryption and decryption processes and all involved parties
key size; even with huge key sizes the attack takes the same must share the same secret key. This secret key must be 128 bits
amount of effort. and is called the "Temporal Key" (TK). TKIP also uses an
Initialization Vector (IV) of 48-bit and uses it as a counter.
-Easy forging of authentication messages: 802.11 standards Even if the TK is shared, all involved parties generate a
declare two types of authentication; Open System and Shared different RC4 key stream. Since the communication participants
Key authentication. The theoretical idea was that an perform a 2-phase generation of a unique "Per-Packet Key"
authentication would be better than no authentication. But in (PPK) that is used as the key for the RC4 key stream.
reality the opposite is emerged to be true. Turning on
authentication with WEP, actually reduce the total security of -User authentication, which is missing in WEP, through the
the network and make it easier to guess WEP key for the extensible authentication protocol (EAP). WEP regulates access
intruders and attackers. to a wireless network based on a computer’s hardware-specific
MAC address, which is relatively simple to be sniffed out and
Shared Key authentication involves demonstrating the stolen. EAP is built on a more secure public-key encryption
knowledge of the shared WEP key by encrypting a challenge. system to ensure that only authorized network users can access
The problem here is, any monitoring attacker can observe the the network. For detailed information about EAP please refer to
challenge and the encrypted response. From those, then can [18].
determine the RC4 stream used to encrypt the response, and use
that stream to encrypt any challenge he/she would receive in the -Integrity, a new mechanism, Message Integrity Code (MIC)
future. So by monitoring a successful authentication, the for TKIP is computed by a new algorithm namely “Michael”
attacker can later forge an authentication. The only advantage of [20]. Message Integrity Code (MIC) is computed to detect
Shared Key authentication is that it reduces the ability of an errors in the data contents, either due to transfer errors or due to
attacker to create a denial-of-service attack by sending garbage purposeful alterations. The new MIC for TKIP is computed by a
packets (encrypted with the wrong WEP key) into the network new algorithm called "Michael" [21]. It is a 64-bit MIC that is
[14]. To handle the task of proper authenticating wireless users added to the Data and the ICV. The ICV is CRC of Data and
turn off Shared Key authentication and depend on other MIC.
authentication protocols, such as 802.1x [18].
2.3.2. What is new in WPA in comparison to WEP?
As it has been put forward above, WEP is found to be far from
an ideal security solution but it could be still used. Having a -Master keys are used directly in WEP: Master Keys are
security mechanism as a deterrence shield is better than having never used directly in WPA. A hierarchy of keys is used, all
none. Any determined attacker may be able to discover WEP derived from the master key. Cryptographically this is much
keys, given time and enough weak IVs, but that might not be more secure.
the reason to leave all of the doors to the system open.
-Key Management and updating is poorly provided for in
WEP: Secure key management is a built-in feature in WPA, so
key management isn't an issue with WPA as compared to WEP.

3
-IV values can be reused/IV length is too short: In order to 2.4.2. Assessment of RSN
eliminate the rollover of counter and reuse of the keys, the
length of the IV has been increased from 24 bits to 48 bits. WPA had improved security of legacy devices to a minimally
Additionally, IVs are used as sequence counters for the TSC acceptable level with one exception mentioned earlier (pass
(TKIP Sequence Counter), protecting against replaying of data, phrases not less than 20 characters), but RSN is the future of
which was a major vulnerability in WEP. over-the-air security for 802.11 as put forward in [25].

-Weak IV values are susceptible to attack: WPA avoids using

known weak IV values. A different secret key is used for each 3. COMPARISON OF WEP MECHANISM,
packet, and the way the key is scrambled with the secret key is
more complex. WPA AND RSN SECURITY PROTOCOLS

-Message integrity checking is ineffective: WEP message 3.1. Discussion of Findings in Table-1
integrity protocol CRC-32 was proved to be ineffective so WPA
uses a Message Integrity Check (MIC) mechanism called, WEP has been regarded as a failure in wireless security, as it
‘Michael’. In theory there is a one in a million chance of has been accepted by the IEEE that WEP was not aimed to
guessing the correct MIC. In practice any changed frames provide full security. The original WEP security standard, using
would first need to pass the TSC and have to have the correct RC4 cipher is widely considered to be vulnerable and broken
packet encryption key even to reach the point where ‘Michael’ due to the insecure IV usage. It uses 40 bits of encryption key
comes into operation. RC4 cipher by default (with vendor specific longer key support
exceptions), concatenates key with IV values per packet sent
2.3.3. One Alleged Drawback Associated With WPA over the air, with no key management mechanism embedded,
having no automatic or periodic key change attribute associated
The 802.11i standard points out that keys generated from short with it, causing re-use and easy to capture small sized IVs that
passwords are subject to dictionary attack and a key that is leads to key deciphering to the third parties. The data integrity
generated from a pass phrase of less than 20 characters is check mechanism of WEP is not cipher protected and uses
unlikely to deter attacks. But using a pass phrase more 20 CRC-32, ICV providing no header integrity control mechanism
characters long is considerably longer than most people will be and lack of replay attack prevention mechanism.
willing to use. Otherwise an offline attack would be easier to
execute than the WEP attacks [22]. WPA, an interim solution to the WEP vulnerability, uses a
subset of 802.11i features and had been generally believed as a
2.4. Robust Security Networks – RSNs major security improvement in wireless environment. In the
light of critics done towards WEP, WPA has numerous
802.11i that has been emerged in 2004 uses the concept of a enhancements over WEP. Namely, RC4 – TKIP encryption
Robust Security Network (RSN), where wireless devices need cipher mechanism, 128 bits of key size, mixed type of
to support additional capabilities. This new standard and encryption key per packet usage, 802.1x dynamic key
architecture utilizes the IEEE 802.1X standard for access management mechanism, 48 bits of IV size, 802.1x – EAP
control and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for usage for authentication, providing data integrity and header
encryption. It uses a pair-wise key exchange (four way integrity, ciphering aspect via MIC that is inserted into TKIP
handshake) protocol utilizing 802.1X for mutual authentication and IV sequence mechanism to prevent replay attacks and
and key management process [23]. support for existing wireless infrastructures [26, 27].

802.11i allows for various network implementations and can Table-1.Comparison of WEP Mechanism, WPA and RSN
use TKIP, but by default RSN uses AES (Advanced Encryption Security Protocols.
Standard) and CCMP (Counter Mode CBC MAC Protocol) and Features of
WEP WPA RSN
Mechanism
it is this which provides for a stronger, scalable solution [24].
AES /
Encryption RC4
CCMP
2.4.1. How RSN Works Cipher (Vulnerable - RC4 / TKIP
CCMP /
Mechanism IV Usage)
TKIP
RSN uses dynamic negotiation of authentication and encryption Encryption Key
40 bits * 128 bits 128 bits
algorithms between access points and mobile devices. The Size
authentication schemes proposed in the draft standard are based Encryption Key
Concatenated Mixed No need
on 802.1X and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). The Per Packet
encryption algorithm is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Encryption Key
None 802.1x 802.1x
Management
Encryption Key For Each
Dynamic negotiation of authentication and encryption Change
None
Packet
No need
algorithms lets RSN evolve with the state of the art in security. IV Size 24 bits 48 bits 48 bits
Using dynamic negotiation, 802.1X, EAP and AES, RSN is
802.1x -
significantly stronger than WEP and WPA. However, RSN Authentication Weak 802.1x - EAP
EAP
would run very poorly on legacy devices. Unfortunately only CRC 32 - MIC
the latest devices have the capability required to accelerate the Data Integrity CCM
ICV (Michael)
algorithms in clients and access points, providing the MIC
Header Integrity None CCM
performance expected of today's WLAN products. (Michael)
Replay Attack IV
None IV Sequence
Prevention Sequence
(*) Some vendors apply 104 and 232 bits key, where the 802.11
requires a 40 bits of encryption key.

4
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