WEP doesnt encrypt my packets?

biotope · 02-18-2006, 01:10 AM

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this.. but...

The situation is this, i'm running ubuntu linux on my acer notebook, and i did a quick scan using ethereal and i'm suprised that all my packets turn up unencrypted, despite WEP being enabled.

Not sure if there's something wrong with my WEP or isit just ethereal being too good at its job, can someone tell me if there is any other way i can check to see if my packets are indeed encrypted?

Capt_Caveman · 02-18-2006, 01:28 AM

Is the packet payload in clear text? Some portions of the header like the source/destination IPs will still be readable even in an encrypted packet. Ethereal should not be able to decrypt WEP on the fly unless you give it the WEP key beforehand.

biotope · 02-18-2006, 05:30 AM

i tried sending an email from a web based email(linuxmail.org) while monitoring, and i can clearly see the "TO" field, as well as the contents. I did not change any default settings in the ethereal program, so i do not think it shd have the WEP key, or does it manage to read it itself? I was jus browsing thru the settings and couldnt seem to see a field where i am supposed to input the WEP key though...

bear with me here pls, i'm still a

Thank you

imemyself · 02-19-2006, 01:33 AM

Are you running Ethereal on the same box that you're sending the mail from? If so, I'm not sure if it would need the WEP key(I'm not knowledgeably on this area though) to be able to see the contents of the packets. Maybe you should try running Ethereal on another wireless box. Also, if you're concerned about security, WEP isn't a good option regardless of whether or not it is encrypting your packets. Look at WPA-PSK if your access point and wifi NIC's support it. WEP can be cracked fairly easily.