Wireless Network Security Flashcards

Which wireless security protocol introduced Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to replace the Pre-Shared Key (PSK) handshake and eliminate offline dictionary attacks?

Answer: WPA3-Personal

WPA3-Personal replaces PSK with SAE (a Dragonfly-based handshake), which is resistant to offline dictionary attacks because an attacker cannot test a captured handshake without interacting with the network each time.

Which encryption cipher suite is mandatory in WPA2 and provides stronger security than TKIP?

Answer: CCMP (AES)

CCMP, based on AES in Counter Mode with CBC-MAC, is the mandatory cipher suite in WPA2 and provides data confidentiality, integrity, and replay protection superior to TKIP.

What is the primary security weakness of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)?

Answer: It relies on RC4 with static, reused initialization vectors making it trivially crackable

WEP reuses 24-bit IVs and uses a flawed implementation of RC4, allowing attackers to collect enough packets to statistically recover the key in minutes using tools like Aircrack-ng.

In an 802.1X wireless deployment, what role does the RADIUS server fulfill?

Answer: It serves as the Authentication Server (AS) that validates supplicant credentials

In 802.1X, the RADIUS server acts as the Authentication Server (AS), receiving forwarded credentials from the authenticator (AP) and making accept/reject decisions based on identity validation.

Which IEEE 802.11 amendment introduced MU-MIMO and operates in the 6 GHz band in addition to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz?

Answer: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E)

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E) supports MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and in its 6E variant operates in the 6 GHz band, offering greater capacity and reduced interference compared to earlier standards.

A network defender discovers an access point broadcasting with the corporate SSID but with a different BSSID than the legitimate AP. What type of device has most likely been deployed?

Answer: A rogue access point impersonating the corporate network

A rogue access point broadcasting the same SSID with a different BSSID is a classic indicator of an evil twin or unauthorized AP designed to lure clients into connecting to an attacker-controlled device.

Which EAP method provides the strongest security by requiring both the client and the authentication server to present digital certificates?

Answer: EAP-TLS

EAP-TLS requires mutual certificate-based authentication — both the supplicant and the RADIUS server present X.509 certificates — making it immune to password-based attacks and the most secure EAP method.