WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption was the first encryption mechanism that aimed to provide confidentiality on a wi-fi netwaor that was comparable to that of a wired network.

Since 2001, a number of serious problems have been identified in WEP that allow the encryption key to be worked out within a few minutes, using readily available software.

Many wireless devices still support WEP to ensure compatibility with older equipment such as old modems, but wherever possible users should switch to a more modern form of encryption.

In 2018, most equipment for Wi-Fi networks use Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), which uses a more secure key to encrypt the transmitted data.

This security mechanism has become the default configuration for wi-fi networks, and must be supported by all wi-fi devices in order for them to be compliant with the 802.11 standard.

In 2019, new Wi-Fi devices started to move to the WPA3 standard that will add higher levels of security. However, many public Wi-Fi networks will continue to run WPA2 and won't provide the enhanced security.

The only way of enhancing security on public Wi-Fi networks is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)