WiFi Encryption
Computer Science: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 5.1.14
WiFi Encryption
It's easier to intercept WiFi signals than signals in a wire. This is because they are just radio waves that anyone can pick up.
Security measures
- Because WiFi is so open, it's important to protect against eavesdroppers.
- There are three common security measures to protect against this:
- Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).
- Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).
- Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2 (WPA2).
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
- WEP is the weakest protection of all.
- WEP simply needs a password to join the network.
- No data is encrypted, so it can be easily intercepted.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
- WPA also uses a password to join the network.
- WPA also uses encryption to scramble the data being sent:
- This means that only devices with the correct key can decode the data.
- WPA is much stronger than WEP.
Wi-Fi Protected Access v2 (WPA2)
- WPA2 is the successor of WPA.
- WPA2 uses a stronger encryption algorithm to prevent unauthorised parties from accessing the encrypted data.
Test yourself on WiFi Encryption
Is it easier to intercept a wireless or a wired signal?
What are the two main types of WiFi protection?
WiFi security measures