Allen-Bradley 1783-WAPAK9, User Manual

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Rockwell Automation Publication 1783-UM006A-EN-P - May 2014 343
Chapter
11
Configuring Cipher Suites and WEP
This chapter describes how to configure the cipher suites required to use Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA) and Cisco Centralized Key Management (CCKM)
authenticated key management, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), WEP features
including AES, Message Integrity Check (MIC), Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol (TKIP), and broadcast key rotation.
Understanding Cipher Suites
and WEP Just as anyone within range of a radio station can tune to the station's frequency
and listen to the signal, any wireless networking device within range of an access
point can receive the access point's radio transmissions. Because WEP is the first
line of defense against intruders, We recommend that you use full encryption on
your wireless network.
WEP encryption scrambles the communication between the access point and
client devices to keep the communication private. Both the access point and
client devices use the same WEP key to encrypt and unencrypt radio signals.
WEP keys encrypt both unicast and multicast messages. Unicast messages are
addressed to just one device on the network. Multicast messages are addressed to
multiple devices on the network.
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication, also called 802.1x
authentication, provides dynamic WEP keys to wireless users. Dynamic WEP
keys are more secure than static, or unchanging, WEP keys. If an intruder
passively receives enough packets encrypted by the same WEP key, the intruder
can perform a calculation to learn the key and use it to join your network.
Because they change frequently, dynamic WEP keys prevent intruders from
performing the calculation and learning the key.
See Configuring Authentication Types on page 351 for detailed information on
EAP and other authentication types.
Topic Page
Understanding Cipher Suites and WEP 343
Configuring Cipher Suites and WEP 345
Creating WEP Keys 345