[CentOS] CentOS4, KDE3.3 and 128 WEP

Ryan ryanag at zoominternet.net
Mon May 23 00:10:05 UTC 2005


I disagree with this assessment.

WPA-PSK is not much more secure than 128-bit WEP, since its passphrases 
vulnerable to common dictionary attacks.  Worse, linux has poor WPA 
support - not every wifi card supported by linux has WPA support.

Also, many non-computer devices (wireless webcams, etc) only have WEP as 
an option.

Use system-config-network , not kwifi, and you should be able to use WEP 
with no problem. Also, consider turning OFF DHCP, turning the AP off 
when you aren't using it, and enabling MAC filtering.

If you are really concerned about security, consider using an SSH or VPN 
tunnel to encrypt data between laptops and a wired router/server.

For some information on WPA-PSK weaknesses: 
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/002452.html


system-config-network requires you enter in "0x" bbefore the key.


Maciej Zenczykowski wrote:
> You can skip wep128 or wep64 or any other wep for that matter,
> currently a standard notebook with a supported wireless card running linux
> can passively break through wep64/wep128 encryption within 10-30 
> minutes, switching to active mode can break through the encryption 
> within 3-5 minutes.  Simply put, encryption of the WEP kind is no longer 
> worth the bother.
> 
> Just look around on google, he's a quote I found:
> 
> Department: Here's a demo of the FBI, using commonly available and openly
> documented hardware & software to crack WEP 128-bit security in three 
> minutes.
> 
> http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article111-page1.php
> 
> The needed utilites can be freely downloaded of the internet.
> 
> Cheers,
> MaZe.
> 
> On Sun, 22 May 2005, John Logsdon wrote:
> 
>> CentOS4 standard installation.
>>
>> I see that KwifiManager doesn't support 128 bit WEP which I need for 
>> other
>> machines on the network, which is a bit of a blow - and rather surprising
>> really as security should be quite a consideration on an enterprise level
>> system (NB RH!).
>>
>> Is there a workaround?  An alternative way of configuring my Belkin
>> F5D6020 ver 2 card?  eg a cvs download that I can get and copy via a
>> stick?  Or how to do it manually?  I have tried regressing kdenetwork but
>> that doesn't include kwifimanager at all.
>>
>> Ideas?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> John
>>
>> John Logsdon                               "Try to make things as simple
>> Quantex Research Ltd, Manchester UK         as possible but not simpler"
>> j.logsdon at quantex-research.com              a.einstein at relativity.org
>> +44(0)161 445 4951/G:+44(0)7717758675       www.quantex-research.com
>>
>>
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