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Thread ID: 107315 2010-02-12 02:57:00 Is This Any Good: "WPA2-PSK" ? SurferJoe46 (51) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
857528 2010-02-12 02:57:00 Short for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 - Pre-Shared Key, and also called WPA or WPA2 Personal, it is a method of securing your network using WPA2 with the use of the optional Pre-Shared Key (PSK) authentication, which was designed for home users without an enterprise authentication server .

To encrypt a network with WPA2-PSK you provide your router not with an encryption key, but rather with a plain-English passphrase between 8 and 63 characters long .

Using a technology called TKIP (for Temporal Key Integrity Protocol), that passphrase, along with the network SSID, is used to generate unique encryption keys for each wireless client . And those encryption keys are constantly changed .

Although WEP also supports passphrases, it does so only as a way to more easily create static keys, which are usually comprised of the hex characters 0-9 and A-F .

I have not run wireless before, so this is kinda new to me .

Does this mean that the passphrase changes every boot-up?
SurferJoe46 (51)
857529 2010-02-12 03:11:00 Hi Joe,
I use it on my network. It seems to be good and my wireless laptop connects automatically just fine.
No, the passphrase doesn't change at boot-up unless you log into the router and change it in there.

LL
lakewoodlady (103)
857530 2010-02-12 03:17:00 For such a young girl you are sure well-informed.

Thanks.

........and you're up 'way past your bedtime!
SurferJoe46 (51)
857531 2010-02-12 03:19:00 Young girl? I don't think so. And flattery will get you everywhere!

LL
lakewoodlady (103)
857532 2010-02-12 03:25:00 Your picture cannot lie - I can see it on the left side of your post! SurferJoe46 (51)
857533 2010-02-12 03:38:00 In my dreams! Anyway, youth and beauty are over-rated.

LL
lakewoodlady (103)
857534 2010-02-12 03:43:00 No they're not!!! :D :D Zippity (58)
857535 2010-02-12 03:51:00 I have not run wireless before, so this is kinda new to me .

Does this mean that the passphrase changes every boot-up?

TKIP provides a re-keying mechanism so that it ensures that every data packet is sent with a unique encryption key .

Key mixing increases the complexity of decoding the keys by giving an attacker substantially less data that has been encrypted using any one key .

so this basicly means it uses you passphrase as a seed for a string of random keys, one for each packet .
robsonde (120)
857536 2010-02-12 03:55:00 Excellent, very enlightening!

LL
lakewoodlady (103)
857537 2010-02-12 07:17:00 TKIP provides a re-keying mechanism so that it ensures that every data packet is sent with a unique encryption key .

Key mixing increases the complexity of decoding the keys by giving an attacker substantially less data that has been encrypted using any one key .

so this basicly means it uses you passphrase as a seed for a string of random keys, one for each packet .

So - this string of random keys - is it like the old bug in the GO:RNDx1 . 001:PRINT:PRINT NEXT:FOR RND=1TOX that was in CPM/BASIC?

I wonder if that is still a Kernal-call in a modern CPU since everything is just layered on older technology anyway .

That particular randomizer had troubles as it could not start at a random integer and was therefor predictable . If I remember it used the CPU clock as the "X" factor and it could be broken by knowing the sequence of events in the CPU interrupts .

One other point on which I would like clarification is: does the use of random packets cause a stack overflow after a long period of time? I seem to notice a loss of speed as time goes by and it starts afresh after a power-down and reboot of the wireless unit .

Just wondering . :thanks
SurferJoe46 (51)
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