The following Frequently Asked Questions, answered by the authors of this book, are designed to both measure your understanding of the concepts presented in this chapter and to assist you with real-life implementation of these concepts. To have your questions about this chapter answered by the author, browse to www.syngress.com/solutions and click on the Ask the Author form.

Q: Why should I bother using Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption if it can be cracked?

A: Due to the low amount of wireless network traffic that is usually generated on a home wireless network, it would take an attacker an extremely long time to capture enough packets to successfully crack the WEP key of your network. An attacker is unlikely to devote the required time and effort to cracking the WEP key on a home network when there are so many other home networks that have no security measures enabled.

Q: Should I use WEP or WPA in securing my wireless network?

A: That decision can be made by analyzing the different hosts on the network and whether they can handle WPA or not. Most older wireless network bridges (Linksys WET11, Microsoft Xbox wireless adapters, and the like) cannot handle WPA encryption, hence forcing you to use WEP encryption. Some older wireless network cards might not be able to handle WPA, and off-brand cards might not have the supported drivers and software to handle WPA.

Q: Aside from setting a default SSID, disabling...