Analysis of selected methods for the recovery of encrypted WEP key

This paper deals with some of the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key decryption methods based on aircrack-ng tool. All programs and tools were embedded in Backtrack operating system (Linux distribution). The 40-bit and 104-bit key encrypted with RC4 cipher weakness was shown. However research methods were made in different network environment. The purpose of the work is to compare different types of keys to check how strong the RC4 stream cipher can be. The 40-bit and 104-bit WEP key has been tested on IEEE 802.11 based wireless LAN . The equipment that was used is small laptop with live-CD Linux operating system. It is type of equipment that emphasizes mobility. A short analysis of key creation methods was performed to compare the amount of time necessary to decrypt random and nonrandom WEP keys.