Corinex Global ADSL2+ - Manual (Page 124)

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Appendices
Corinex ADSL2+ Wireless Gateway G
Current encryption technology offers 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption. If you
are using 64-bit WEP, swap out your old wireless units for 128-bit encryption right
away. Where encryption is concerned, the bigger and more complex, the better.
A WEP key is a string of hexadecimal characters that your wireless network uses
in two ways. First, nodes in your wireless network are identified with a common
WEP key. Second, these WEP keys encrypt and decrypt data sent over your wire-
less network. So, a higher level of security ensures that hackers will have a harder
time breaking into your network.
Setting one, static WEP key on your wireless network leaves your network open
the threats even as you think it is protecting you. While it is true that using a WEP
key increases wireless security, you can increase it further by using multiple WEP
keys.
Keep in mind that WEP keys are stored in the firmware of wireless cards and
access points and can be used to hack into the network if a card or access point falls
into the wrong hands. Also, should someone hack into your network, there would
be nothing preventing someone access to the entire network, using just one static
key.
The solution, then, is to segment your network up into multiple groups. If your
network had 80 users and you used four WEP keys, a hacker would have access to
only ¼ of your wireless network resources. In this way, multiple keys reduce your
liability.
Finally, be sure to change your WEP key regularly, once a week or once a day.
Using a “dynamic” WEP key, rather than one that is static, makes it even harder for
a hacker to break into your network and steal your resources.
C. WPA
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is the newest and best available standard in Wi-
Fi security. Two modes are available: Pre-Shared Key and RADIUS. Pre-Shared
Key gives you a choice of two encryption methods: TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol), which utilizes a stronger encryption method and incorporates Message
Integrity Code (MIC) to provide protection against hackers, and AES (Advanced
Encryption System), which utilizes a symmetric 128-Bit block data encryption.
RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) utilizes a RADIUS server for
authentication and the use of dynamic TKIP, AES, or WEP.