WEP cryptography is not very secure at all. A paper from cryptography analysts called the encryption algorithm “kindergarten cryptography”. Actually, software exists that exploits a huge security hole in the encryption standard. This software listens to the encrypted network traffic, analyzes it, and after only a few hours it reveals the password to enter the network in clear text. The more traffic on the network, the easier it is to find out the password because some packets are particularly weak because they carry a bad so-called initialisation vector (IV). Recent access points try to avoid these bad IVs, so it is getting harder to exploit the hole.
If you are truly concerned about your security, donot use plain WEP. If you are just setting up a two-computer home network, well, then I guessWEP should do.
There are many alternatives to WEP encryption. Its successors WPA and WPA2 are better designed and do a better job protecting your traffic, for example by dynamically changing the keys after a while. If you dont want to rely on the basic safety of the network link you could use SSH to communicate over the network. SSH is a program suite that encrypts data with its own algorithm, which is very secure. Another option is to use PPTP, the Point-to-Point-Tunneling protocol. However, even PPTP seems to be a bit leaky concerning encryption security. And finally, you could set up an IPSec tunnel (VPN connection) for your encrypted connections. As of yet, this encryption seems to be very safe and flexible.
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