- A
Use of TKIP for backward compatibility
Why wrong: TKIP is deprecated and not used in WPA3.
- B
Mandatory use of WPS for easy setup
Why wrong: WPS is not part of WPA3; it's a legacy feature.
- C
Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) providing forward secrecy
SAE protects against offline dictionary attacks and provides forward secrecy, a major improvement over WPA2 PSK.
- D
Support for 802.1X only, no personal mode
Why wrong: WPA3 supports both personal (SAE) and enterprise modes.
Question 774 of 1,000
CISSP Communication and Network Security Practice Question
This CISSP practice question tests your understanding of communication and network security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An organization is migrating from WPA2 to WPA3 for its wireless network. Which improvement does WPA3 provide over WPA2?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) providing forward secrecy
WPA3 replaces WPA2's Pre-Shared Key (PSK) handshake with Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), defined in IEEE 802.11-2016 and RFC 7664. SAE uses a Dragonfly key exchange based on discrete logarithm cryptography, which provides forward secrecy: even if an attacker captures the handshake and later obtains the pre-shared key, they cannot decrypt past session traffic. This eliminates the vulnerability to offline dictionary attacks that plagued WPA2-PSK.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use of TKIP for backward compatibility
Why it's wrong here
TKIP is deprecated and not used in WPA3.
- ✗
Mandatory use of WPS for easy setup
Why it's wrong here
WPS is not part of WPA3; it's a legacy feature.
- ✓
Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) providing forward secrecy
Why this is correct
SAE protects against offline dictionary attacks and provides forward secrecy, a major improvement over WPA2 PSK.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Support for 802.1X only, no personal mode
Why it's wrong here
WPA3 supports both personal (SAE) and enterprise modes.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse WPA3's mandatory use of SAE with the older WPA2-PSK handshake, and mistakenly think WPA3 still supports TKIP or WPS, or that it only works in Enterprise mode, when in fact SAE is the core personal mode enhancement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SAE uses a commit-and-confirm handshake where both parties generate ephemeral keys and compute a shared secret using a password-authenticated key exchange (PAKE). The forward secrecy property ensures that each session's encryption keys are derived from ephemeral values, so compromising the long-term password does not reveal past session keys. In practice, this means that an attacker who captures the 4-way handshake and later cracks the password cannot decrypt previously recorded traffic, a critical improvement for compliance with data retention policies.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A developer is choosing between AES-256 (symmetric) and RSA-2048 (asymmetric) for encrypting a large file that will be sent to a partner. Symmetric encryption is fast but requires key exchange; asymmetric is slower but solves the key distribution problem. A hybrid approach — encrypt the file with AES, encrypt the AES key with RSA — is standard. Questions like this test whether you understand when each approach applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CISSP question test?
Communication and Network Security — This question tests Communication and Network Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) providing forward secrecy — WPA3 replaces WPA2's Pre-Shared Key (PSK) handshake with Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), defined in IEEE 802.11-2016 and RFC 7664. SAE uses a Dragonfly key exchange based on discrete logarithm cryptography, which provides forward secrecy: even if an attacker captures the handshake and later obtains the pre-shared key, they cannot decrypt past session traffic. This eliminates the vulnerability to offline dictionary attacks that plagued WPA2-PSK.
What should I do if I get this CISSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This CISSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISSP exam.
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