What does WEP stand for?

• A. Wireless Equivalent Privacy
• B. Wireless Equivalent Policy
• C. Wired Equivalent Privacy
• D. Wired Equivalent Policy

Answer: (C)

Wired Equivalent Privacy means the goal was to provide privacy comparable to a wired network by encrypting wireless transmissions. The word “Wired” signals its aim to match the security of a physical Ethernet network, while “Privacy” refers to keeping the data confidential. The other options miss the established terminology: using “Wireless” changes the meaning, “Policy” isn’t the correct term, and the correct phrase combines “Wired” with “Privacy.” Note that WEP is an older standard and is now known to be insecure due to weaknesses in its encryption and initialization vector handling, with modern networks using WPA2 or WPA3.