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Describe the difference between WPA and WPA2.

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Wireless Protected Access (WPA) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) are security protocols designed to secure wireless computer networks. Both were developed as improvements over the original Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol, which had significant vulnerabilities. Here's a technical overview of the differences between WPA and WPA2:

  1. Encryption Algorithm:
    • WPA: It uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) as its encryption algorithm. TKIP is designed to provide a higher level of security compared to WEP by dynamically generating keys for each packet.
    • WPA2: It introduced a more robust encryption algorithm called Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is considered more secure than TKIP and is currently the recommended encryption method.
  2. Key Management:
    • WPA: It relies on the use of preshared keys (PSK) or a more secure method called Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) with a back-end authentication server.
    • WPA2: It maintains support for both PSK and EAP, but the notable improvement is the use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) for key management. CCMP is more secure than TKIP.
  3. Authentication Protocols:
    • WPA: It primarily uses the weaker Pre-Shared Key (PSK) mode for authentication, which involves a shared passphrase.
    • WPA2: It enhances authentication security by introducing the stronger IEEE 802.1X/EAP framework, which allows for more secure authentication methods, including Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and its variants.
  4. Security Strength:
    • WPA: While an improvement over WEP, it is still considered less secure than WPA2 due to the vulnerabilities associated with TKIP.
    • WPA2: It is currently the more secure option due to its use of AES and CCMP, which have withstood extensive cryptographic analysis and are not vulnerable to known attacks that affect TKIP.
  5. Robustness:
    • WPA: It has some vulnerabilities, particularly related to TKIP, which could potentially be exploited.
    • WPA2: It is more robust and less susceptible to attacks due to the use of AES and CCMP.
  6. Industry Adoption:
    • WPA: It was an interim solution designed to address the weaknesses of WEP.
    • WPA2: It became the widely adopted standard for securing Wi-Fi networks and is recommended for use wherever possible.

WPA2 is an improvement over WPA in terms of both encryption strength and authentication methods, making it the preferred choice for securing wireless networks. It provides a higher level of security and resistance to known vulnerabilities associated with its predecessor.