How secure is 256 bit WEP

[JWinty]

Dear All,
Does anyone know if 256 bit WEP suffers from the same vulnerabilities as 128\40 bit? Does 256 also have a 24 bit IV ?
On a related topic - anyone know of a Wireless-Ethernet bridge that supports WPA *as a client* not as an access point? I have a wired device I want to connect to a wireless network. I will use a little bridge box like the DLINK DWL-810+ but I need it to be secure so WPA would be handy!!

Any help appreciated cheers.
Winty.

 

[luv2skyout]

I thought that 256 WEP is not a standard, but specific to a vendor. If so, you'll have to ask the vendor (good luck!).

 

[JWinty]

luv2skyout - handy pointer cheers. It turns out that it is a DLINK proprietary implementation and after much shuffling through front line support dodos I found out the information I needed. Anyway - for what it's worth - their 256 bit implementation uses the same initialisation vector as 128 and 40 bit and therefore is effectively no more secure than the 40bit WEP. Although it does have the added bonus of loading up the device with considerable overhead required to compute the 256bit RC4 cipher. Nice work boys. In other words - a total marketing feature.

--Winty.