What does WEP stand for in the context of wireless security?

WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a security protocol designed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a level of security comparable to what is considered secure for wired networks. The primary purpose of WEP is to ensure that the data transmitted over wireless networks remains confidential and is protected from unauthorized access.

WEP was implemented to address the inherent vulnerabilities of wireless communications, where data can be intercepted more easily than in wired settings. It employs the RC4 stream cipher for encryption and uses a shared key for encrypting the data being transmitted. Although WEP was an important development in wireless security, it is now considered obsolete due to critical weaknesses that have been discovered, leading to the adoption of more secure protocols like WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2.

In this context, while other options touch upon relevant ideas, only Wired Equivalent Privacy accurately represents WEP as it relates specifically to the aim of mirroring wired network security in wireless environments.