2001 Conferences

8th CACR Information Security Workshop
2nd Annual Privacy and Security Workshop


Speaker
Nikita Borisov
UC Berkeley, Computer Science Dept.

Title
Wireless Privacy, the Do's and Don'ts of Wireless: A Critical Analysis of Methods for the Future (Case Study: The Cracking of the 802.11 Encryption Code)
PowerPoint presentation.

Abstract
"Wired Equivalent Privacy" (WEP) is a protocol used to protect transmissions in 802.11 wireless networks. However, the protocol contains several security flaws, stemming from a misapplication of cryptographic primitives. These flaws give rise to practical attacks, violating the goals of WEP. I will discuss the flaws, the security principles they violate, and the attacks that ensue. I will also summarize several other attacks, discovered by other groups. Finally, I will discuss the implications of these results, both to current users of wireless networks and to future protocol designs.

Speaker Bio
Nikita Borisov received a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo, with double honours in Computer Science and Pure Math. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley studying Internet-scale systems and computer security.