Wireless Security Protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3 Quiz Quiz

Explore core differences and key features of major wireless security protocols with this quiz designed to enhance your understanding of network protection standards, weaknesses, and improvements across WEP, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3. Perfect for those seeking to solidify their knowledge of wireless encryption, authentication, and security evolution.

1. Identifying Protocol Vulnerabilities

   Which wireless security protocol is most vulnerable to attacks due to its use of static encryption keys and weak initialization vectors, making it susceptible in shared environments such as cafés?

   1. WEP
   2. WPA
   3. WAPA2
   4. WAV3

   Explanation: WEP is the correct answer because it uses static encryption keys and weak 24-bit initialization vectors, leading to easy compromise with modern attack tools. WAPA2 is a misspelled distractor and does not exist. WPA improved upon WEP but is still not as robust as newer protocols. WAV3 is not a wireless security protocol and serves as a confusion option.

2. Enhancement in Encryption Algorithms

   What major improvement did WPA2 introduce over WPA, especially for protecting sensitive data on office wireless networks?

   1. Integrating password expiration policies
   2. Increasing default key length to 256 bits
   3. Transition from TKIP to AES encryption
   4. Adding dynamic MAC address filtering

   Explanation: WPA2's major advancement over WPA was the mandatory implementation of AES encryption instead of the weaker TKIP. Dynamic MAC address filtering and password expiration policies are not core features introduced by WPA2. While key length is important, the direct change to AES provided a significant boost in security, making it the main improvement.

3. Protocol Selection for Modern Networks

   For a newly installed public Wi-Fi, which protocol currently provides the highest level of security against brute-force and dictionary attacks?

   1. WPA3
   2. WAP2
   3. WPA
   4. WEP

   Explanation: WPA3 is the latest protocol and includes protections like SAE, greatly enhancing resistance to brute-force and dictionary attacks. WEP and WPA are outdated and widely considered insecure today. WAP2 is a typo and does not refer to a real wireless security protocol, which makes it incorrect.

4. Feature Recognition in Protocols

   Which wireless security protocol introduced Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to prevent offline password guessing, especially in personal wireless networks?

   1. WPA2
   2. WPA3
   3. WEP
   4. WPA-E

   Explanation: WPA3 brought the SAE authentication method, replacing the PSK approach to help prevent offline dictionary attacks. WEP and WPA2 did not introduce SAE and remain more vulnerable to such attacks. WPA-E is not an established security protocol, and its inclusion is intended as a distractor.

5. Key Management Differences

   What is a primary limitation of WEP compared to later wireless security protocols in terms of key management and renewal?

   1. WEP introduces a four-way handshake for key exchange
   2. WEP uses rotating keys every hour
   3. WEP uses static keys that are rarely changed automatically
   4. WEP requires biometric authentication to renew keys

   Explanation: WEP keys are typically static and manually configured, which means they seldom change unless the network administrator intervenes, making them easier to attack. Biometric authentication is not a feature of WEP or any common wireless protocol. Rotating keys and four-way handshakes are improvements brought by later protocols like WPA and WPA2, not by WEP.