Which statement best describes the WEP security protocol?

• A. WEP is an approved modern security standard.
• B. WEP was the original core protocol and was deeply flawed.
• C. WEP is part of 802.11i.
• D. WEP was never used.

Answer: (B)

WEP was the first security mechanism used in 802.11 wireless networks, designed to provide privacy by using RC4 with a shared key and a 24‑bit initialization vector. The problem is that the small IV is reused frequently, and RC4 weaknesses combined with IV reuse allow an attacker who observes enough traffic to deduce encryption keys or plaintext, enabling decryption and even packet forgery. These practical weaknesses were demonstrated clearly, so WEP is now considered insecure and obsolete.

Modern 802.11 security moved beyond WEP with the 802.11i standard, introducing stronger protections like WPA2 with AES-CCMP. WEP being widely deployed in early Wi‑Fi deployments contradicts the idea that it was never used, and claiming it’s part of 802.11i isn’t accurate because 802.11i replaces WEP with more robust methods.