We’ll write everything from scratch Question  Encryption Methods In a minimum 2-page paper, review encryption methods WPA, WPA2, and WPA3. Compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses. Then, explain which version you would use and why. Would you include any authentication mechanisms, such as 802.1x or similar?

Compare And Contrast Their Strengths and Weaknesses.

WPA, WPA2, and WPA3 encryption methods were developed in different years, and a predecessor encryption method was succeeded by an improved encryption method (Srikanth & Reddy, 2019). Consequently, a successor encryption method offers better security features. WAP performs better than WEP, an earlier version of encryption because it is compatible with most vendor devices. Also, WAP encrypts data better than WEP because of the MIC calculation feature. The 802.11 standards are well implemented in the WAP2 compared to WEP and WAP. WAP2 also uses CCMP to protect data from unauthorized persons.

CCMP encrypts and decrypts to ensure that man cannot access data in the middle when being transmitted. Only the receiver can have it decrypted at the destination. This is done using a pre-shared key and AES encryption. WAP3 has better encryption than WAP2 Enterprise and WAP Personal. It protects data using Simultaneous Authentication of Equals as compared to WAP2’s Advanced Encryption Standard (Srikanth & Reddy, 2019). This improvement protects against the KRACK attack that was present in WAP2.

Consequently, it is difficult to successfully perform a KRACK attack or brute force attack on a public network protected by WAP3. This is because an attacker cannot access old traffic from a network and decode it (Srikanth & Reddy, 2019). Devices that are not WAP3 enabled cannot access a WAP3-protected network connection. This is efficient in ensuring that the network is secure.

WAP3 Preference

Using the WAP3 encryption method would be prudent because it offers the strongest protection against network attacks (Srikanth & Reddy, 2019). According to Bartoli (2020), it is evident that using an encryption method lower than WAP3 would expose the network to attackers. The experiments illustrated remote connections to a server using WAP, WAP2, and WAP3 and the vulnerabilities that would be experienced in the three encryption methods. In WAP and WAP2 encryptions, unauthorized persons could access data. However, in WAP3, no data could be obtained illegally. The only notable challenge in WAP3 was that connection authorization failed for some devices that were not WAP3 compatible (Bartoli, 2020). The Simultaneous Authentication of Equals is efficient in implementing WAP3 encryption. This would be used together with other standards based on the security needs of a network. For example, 802.1x could be used with 196-bit security to protect a network fully. 802.11 standard could also be employed as it checks on mesh network security. The Simultaneous Authentication of Equals ensures that all legal peer devices on a network are identified to prevent attackers from gaining access (Srikanth & Reddy, 2019). Therefore, the 802.11s would work well with SAE.

References

Bartoli, A. (2020). Understanding Server Authentication in WPA3 Enterprise. Applied Sciences, 10(7879), 2-12. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/21/7879/pdf

Srikanth, V., & Reddy, I. (2019). Wireless Security Protocols (WEP, WPA, WPA2 & WPA3). Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR), 6(5), 1-6. https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRDA06001.pdf