WEP uses RC4 for fast and therefore cheap encryption.

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Multiple Choice

WEP uses RC4 for fast and therefore cheap encryption.

Explanation:
WEP uses RC4 as its encryption algorithm, and RC4 is a fast, lightweight stream cipher, which is why the encryption process in WEP is quick and inexpensive to implement in both hardware and software. In practice, WEP combines a shared key with a per-packet 24-bit Initialization Vector to seed RC4, then XORs the RC4 keystream with the plaintext to produce ciphertext. That design prioritizes low computational overhead, which aligns with calling the encryption fast and cheap. It’s important to note, though, that the speed and simplicity come at the cost of security: the small IV size and how it’s reused introduce vulnerabilities, so while the method is fast, it isn’t secure.

WEP uses RC4 as its encryption algorithm, and RC4 is a fast, lightweight stream cipher, which is why the encryption process in WEP is quick and inexpensive to implement in both hardware and software. In practice, WEP combines a shared key with a per-packet 24-bit Initialization Vector to seed RC4, then XORs the RC4 keystream with the plaintext to produce ciphertext. That design prioritizes low computational overhead, which aligns with calling the encryption fast and cheap. It’s important to note, though, that the speed and simplicity come at the cost of security: the small IV size and how it’s reused introduce vulnerabilities, so while the method is fast, it isn’t secure.

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