If your mother uses wifi at home to send you e-mail, and your home network is not protected by WEP or WPA, what reasons would you suggest to her for enabling one of these two protocols at home if the liability of reading those e-mails still exists once her message leaves your home, on it’s way to school?
If my mom were to send me an e-mail I would suggest for her to enable WEP in our home because WAP is most commonly used to access the mobile web from a mobile phone. WAP, Wireless Application Protocol, is a browser that provides the basic services of a computer-based web browser but is simplified to operate within the limits of a mobile phone. The WEP, Wired Equivalent Privacy, on the other hand, is a wireless network that broadcasts messages using radio and are therefore more susceptible to eavesdropping than wired networks. The WEP was intended to provide confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network. While the WEP is the smarter choice, the network still has its weaknesses. It is possible to hack into the system with readily available software within minutes. However, considering the e-mail is from my mother and most likely doesn't contain any top secret information I don't think anyone would be interested in hacking into her e-mail account.
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We introduced a third protocol which made all of this more confusing. You introduced WAP, but the choices I gave were between WEP and WPA.
ReplyDeleteWPA is more secure.
Let's assume she wasn't using any encryption at home - would it bother you to know your notes were being read by the new neighbors? Or a better reason to put security on - it would give access to a snooper to all traffic on the network - not just e-mail - including what sites she surfs, etc.