Introduction to Cryptography with Coding Theory, 3rd Edition

14.3 WEP

As wireless technology started to replace direct connections in the 1990s, the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) Algorithm was introduced and was the standard method used from 1997 to 2004 for users to access the Internet via wireless devices via routers. The intent was to make wireless communication as secure as that of a wired connection. However, as we’ll see, there were several design flaws, and starting in 2004 it was replaced by the more secure WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), WPA2, and WPA3.

The basic arrangement has a central access point, usually a router, and several laptop computers that want to access the Internet through the router. The idea is to make the communications between the laptops and the router secure. Each laptop has ...