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WiFi Security Types Overview

OPN

  • Authentication: None
  • Cipher: None

Vulnerabilities

  • Passive Sniffing
  • MITM/evil-twin
  • Captive Portal Trust
  • MAC Spoofing

WEP

  • Authentication: Shared key
  • Cipher: RC4

WPA

  • Authentication: PSK
  • Cipher: TKIP/RC4

Vulnerabilities

  • Capture PMKID or 4-way handshake for offline PSK cracking.
  • WPS weaknesses

WPA2-Personal

  • Authentication: PSK (4-way handshake)
  • Cipher: CCMP/AES (avoid TKIP/mixed modes)

Vulnerabilities

  • Capture PMKID or 4-way handshake for offline PSK cracking.
  • WPS weaknesses

WPA2-Enterprise

  • Authentication: 802.1X/EAP (e.g., PEAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-TTLS, prefer EAP-TLS)
  • Cipher: CCMP/AES

Vulnerabilities

  • Evil-twin credential capture

WPA3-Personal (SAE)

  • Authentication: SAE (dragonfly PAKE)
  • Cipher: CCMP-128/GCMP-128

Vulnerabilities

  • WPA2 downgrade
  • Dragonblood
  • Online/side-channel guessing attempts

WPA3-Enterprise (128-bit)

  • Authentication: 802.1X/EAP (typically EAP-TLS)
  • Cipher: CCMP-128/GCMP-128

Vulnerabilities

  • Evil-twin credential capture