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What is the full form of WEP?

Full form of WEP: Here, we are going to learn what does WEP stands for? WEP – which is an abbreviation of "Wired Equivalent Privacy" in Computer Acronyms/Abbreviations, etc.
Submitted by Anushree Goswami, on March 22, 2020

WEP: Wired Equivalent Privacy

WEP is an abbreviation of "Wired Equivalent Privacy".

For the IEEE 802.11 wireless networks, it is a security algorithm. It is introduced to provide data confidentiality which wasn’t possible with the traditional approach. WEP is recognized by its key of 10 or 26 hexadecimal digits (40 or 104 bits), was the most widely used at a certain time and many times the router configuration tools present WEP as the first security choice to the users.

WEP is an older encryption algorithm. It is used in wireless networks to secure transmitted data. During the configuration, WEP uses the security code called the WEP key that contains the sequence of hexadecimal digits. To communicate on the wireless networks, the hexadecimal digits should match on all the devices. Depending on the type of WEP encryption that is being utilized the length of the WEP key can be formed.

Image source: https://www.123rf.com/photo_38972856_wep-wired-equivalent-privacy-sign.html

Advantages of WEP

It is not easy to crack the WEP key. It requires skills.
Another benefit is Interoperability since WEP encryption is supported by all devices.
To use the older devices that need wireless connectivity, WEP will be useful.

Disadvantage of WEP

Across the whole wireless network, it uses a shared key authentication and with the data packets, the same key is being sent.
If malicious users gather enough data and time, they can easily put their key into it.
To change the master key, one has to change the key on all the devices manually that are connected to the network. It could be a lot of time taking if you have any devices attached to the network.

Although there are much better security algorithms then WEP, but if you are unable to configure your network with another algorithm, you can simply use WEP encryption. It is better to have some encryption in your network than no network at all.