Authentication and Authorization of Wireless Users
The 802.11 standard supports different types of authentication. The two most generic types are open and shared-key authentication. In most wireless networks, a service set ID (SSID) is specified to identify the wireless network. The basic mechanisms of 802.11 augment the identification by using SSIDs with authentication mechanisms that prevent the client from sending data to and receiving data from the access point unless the client has the correct shared key. One of the most basic wireless authentication protocols is the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) standard. The following section describes WEP in detail.
WEP, an optional encryption standard in 802.11 that most vendors support, is implemented in the MAC layer. WEP-enabled devices encrypt the payload of each 802.11 frame before transmission by using an RC4 stream cipher. The packets are then decrypted in the wireless access point. WEP encrypts only data between 802.11 stations. After the frame enters the wired side of the network, WEP no longer applies.
During the encryption process, WEP arranges a key schedule (otherwise known as a seed) by concatenating the shared secret key supplied by the user of the sending station with a random-generated 24-bit initialization vector (IV). The IV lengthens the life of the secret key because the station can change the IV for each frame transmission. WEP inputs the resulting seed into a pseudorandom number generator that produces a key-stream equal to the length of the frame payload plus a 32-bit integrity check value (ICV), as illustrated in Figure 8-4.
Figure 8-4 WEP Process
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