802.11 Encryption: Wired Equivalent Privacy

How does one effectively deploy a wireless LAN to ensure proper security
measures have been taken? The answer lies in deploying all points
along your network so that you maintain the same consistent type of
security as you would with wired LANs or dial-up connections. This
leads to the concept of WEP.

WEP is an acronym for wired equivalent privacy, a concept developed
as part of the IEE 802.11 standard. WEP offers the same level of privacy
that you would expect to maintain in your wired network. The 802.3 Ethernet
standard offers security protections for a wired network through
physical security means. Since you are only dealing with wires per se, you
can control who has access to your network room by simple lock and key.
Because you can physically exclude outsiders from a wired network,
the wired LAN standards need not necessarily offer encryption to protect
your data against someone interested in trying to view your network
data traffic. But because wireless LANs are not protected by a
physical space, any transmissions can leak beyond your office building
and literally right out into the street.