Which of the following BEST describes the weakness in WEP encryption?

The correct answer is D. The WEP key is stored with a very small pool of random numbers to make the cipher text. WEP's primary weakness is its use of a small 24-bit Initialization Vector (IV), which creates a very limited pool of approximately 16 million possible values. On a busy network, IVs are rapidly reused. When the same IV is reused with the RC4 stream cipher, attackers can capture…

Threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigations

Question

Options

AThe initialization vector of WEP uses a crack-able RC4 encryption algorithm.
BThe WEP key is stored in plain text and split in portions across 224 packets of random data.
CThe WEP key has a weak MD4 hashing algorithm used.
DThe WEP key is stored with a very small pool of random numbers to make the cipher text.

How the community answered

(59 responses)

A
2% (1)
B
3% (2)
C
7% (4)
D
88% (52)

Explanation

WEP's primary weakness is its use of a small 24-bit Initialization Vector (IV), which creates a very limited pool of approximately 16 million possible values. On a busy network, IVs are rapidly reused. When the same IV is reused with the RC4 stream cipher, attackers can capture enough packets to perform statistical analysis and crack the WEP key. Option A is partially true (RC4 is used) but misidentifies the root cause. Option B is factually incorrect. Option C is wrong - WEP does not use MD4. Option D correctly identifies the small keyspace/random number pool as the core vulnerability.

Topics

#WEP weakness#RC4#wireless encryption#initialization vector

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