COMPTIA SECURITY+ (SY0-501) - BEYOND THE
BASIC LAN QUESTIONS | TESTED AND PROVEN
ANSWERS | LATEST UPDATE 2024/2025 100%
(GRADE A+)
cryptographic protocols
Ans>> Protocols meant to ensure security via encryption and cryptography.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
Ans>> The first security iteration of 802.11, used a shared password encryption scheme that
within a few years was discovered to be mathematically crackable. Uses 128-bit keys, and uses a
48-bit initialization vector.
RC4
Ans>> Built into WEP as its encryption protocol and was very efficient because, as a streaming
protocol, it rapidly encrypts 1 bit (rather than entire blocks) of plaintext at a time. It uses a wide
range of key sizes, from 40-bit to 2048-bit keys.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
1
,Ans>> A security standard for users of computing devices equipped with wireless internet
connections, or Wi-Fi. It improved upon and replaced the original Wi-Fi security standard, Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP).
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 - Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK)
Ans>> A method of securing your network using WPA2 with the use of the optional Pre-Shared
Key (PSK) authentication, which was designed for home users without an enterprise authentication
server.
WPA-Enterprise
Ans>> A wireless security mechanism designed for small to large enterprise wireless networks. It
is an enhancement to the WPA security protocol with advanced authentication and encryption.
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)
Ans>> A security protocol used in the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard. TKIP was
designed by the IEEE 802.11i task group and the Wi-Fi Alliance as an interim solution to replace
WEP without requiring the replacement of legacy hardware. Makes it possible to use dynamic
keys, which are generated on a per-packet basis.
2
,Wi-Fi Protected Access, version 2 (WPA2)
Ans>> The name of the final official implementation of the 802.11i wireless security protocol
standard developed by the IEEE.
WPA/WPA2 passphrase
Ans>> Can be from 8 to 63 case-sensitive ASCII characters, or 64 hexadecimal characters.
Now, this passphrase is not the actual WPA/WPA2 key; the passphrase is used to generate the
256-bit pre-shared key that must be entered into all wireless devices on the same wireless
network.
_______ uses TKIP; _______ uses AES.
Ans>> WPA, WPA2
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Ans>> A symmetric encryption algorithm. The algorithm was developed by two Belgian
cryptographer Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen. AES was designed to be efficient in both
hardware and software, and supports a block length of 128 bits and key lengths of 128, 192,
and 256 bits.
3
, Counter-mode (CTR) Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CMC-MAC)
Ans>> Mode of encryption employed by AES which uses a 128-bit key and 128-bit block size
(since it is a block symmetric cipher, as opposed to the streaming RC4 symmetric cipher used in
WEP and WPA), as well as 48-bit initialization vectors (IVs). Also known as CCMP.
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
Ans>> A wireless network security standard that tries to make connections between a router and
wireless devices faster and easier. WPS works only for wireless networks that use a password
that is encrypted with the WPA Personal or WPA2 Personal security protocols.
802.1X
Ans>> A port-based access control most seen on corporate wireless networks as the preferred
form of authentication and access management control, it is not a wireless standard at all and can
be used in wired networks as well.
supplicant
Ans>> An entity at one end of a point-to-point LAN segment that seeks to be authenticated by
an authenticator attached to the other end of that link.
4
BASIC LAN QUESTIONS | TESTED AND PROVEN
ANSWERS | LATEST UPDATE 2024/2025 100%
(GRADE A+)
cryptographic protocols
Ans>> Protocols meant to ensure security via encryption and cryptography.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
Ans>> The first security iteration of 802.11, used a shared password encryption scheme that
within a few years was discovered to be mathematically crackable. Uses 128-bit keys, and uses a
48-bit initialization vector.
RC4
Ans>> Built into WEP as its encryption protocol and was very efficient because, as a streaming
protocol, it rapidly encrypts 1 bit (rather than entire blocks) of plaintext at a time. It uses a wide
range of key sizes, from 40-bit to 2048-bit keys.
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
1
,Ans>> A security standard for users of computing devices equipped with wireless internet
connections, or Wi-Fi. It improved upon and replaced the original Wi-Fi security standard, Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP).
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 - Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK)
Ans>> A method of securing your network using WPA2 with the use of the optional Pre-Shared
Key (PSK) authentication, which was designed for home users without an enterprise authentication
server.
WPA-Enterprise
Ans>> A wireless security mechanism designed for small to large enterprise wireless networks. It
is an enhancement to the WPA security protocol with advanced authentication and encryption.
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)
Ans>> A security protocol used in the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard. TKIP was
designed by the IEEE 802.11i task group and the Wi-Fi Alliance as an interim solution to replace
WEP without requiring the replacement of legacy hardware. Makes it possible to use dynamic
keys, which are generated on a per-packet basis.
2
,Wi-Fi Protected Access, version 2 (WPA2)
Ans>> The name of the final official implementation of the 802.11i wireless security protocol
standard developed by the IEEE.
WPA/WPA2 passphrase
Ans>> Can be from 8 to 63 case-sensitive ASCII characters, or 64 hexadecimal characters.
Now, this passphrase is not the actual WPA/WPA2 key; the passphrase is used to generate the
256-bit pre-shared key that must be entered into all wireless devices on the same wireless
network.
_______ uses TKIP; _______ uses AES.
Ans>> WPA, WPA2
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
Ans>> A symmetric encryption algorithm. The algorithm was developed by two Belgian
cryptographer Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen. AES was designed to be efficient in both
hardware and software, and supports a block length of 128 bits and key lengths of 128, 192,
and 256 bits.
3
, Counter-mode (CTR) Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CMC-MAC)
Ans>> Mode of encryption employed by AES which uses a 128-bit key and 128-bit block size
(since it is a block symmetric cipher, as opposed to the streaming RC4 symmetric cipher used in
WEP and WPA), as well as 48-bit initialization vectors (IVs). Also known as CCMP.
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
Ans>> A wireless network security standard that tries to make connections between a router and
wireless devices faster and easier. WPS works only for wireless networks that use a password
that is encrypted with the WPA Personal or WPA2 Personal security protocols.
802.1X
Ans>> A port-based access control most seen on corporate wireless networks as the preferred
form of authentication and access management control, it is not a wireless standard at all and can
be used in wired networks as well.
supplicant
Ans>> An entity at one end of a point-to-point LAN segment that seeks to be authenticated by
an authenticator attached to the other end of that link.
4
