You want to enable wireless security on your Android device and your Linux system. Which of the following is a disadvantage of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)?

Question

Options

• AIt enables MAC address filtering.
• BIt is easily compromised by hackers.
• CIt only supports 56-bit symmetric-key encryption.
• DIt is based on the outdated 802.lla wireless standard.

• A
  6% (1)
• B
  94% (16)

Explanation

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is widely considered broken because its encryption implementation uses a flawed RC4 cipher with weak initialization vectors, allowing attackers to crack the key in minutes using freely available tools - making B correct. Option A is wrong because MAC filtering is a separate, optional network feature unrelated to WEP's encryption protocol. Option C is wrong on two counts: WEP uses 40-bit or 104-bit keys (not 56-bit), and 56-bit is associated with DES, a different standard. Option D is wrong because WEP is tied to the 802.11 (original) standard, not 802.11a, and its problem is weak security design, not an outdated radio standard.

Memory tip: Think "WEP = Weak Encryption Protocol" - it was deprecated in 2004 and replaced by WPA/WPA2 precisely because it was trivially hackable.

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