An employee working from a coffee shop connects to an open Wi-Fi network called "CoffeeShop_Free" without a...

Question

An employee working from a coffee shop connects to an open Wi-Fi network called "CoffeeShop_Free" without a VPN. The IT security team wants to explain the specific risks. What are the two primary wireless security risks of using public open Wi-Fi without a VPN, at the network level?

Accepted Answer

(1) Passive eavesdropping: all unencrypted HTTP traffic (and any TLS traffic the attacker can decrypt via MITM) is visible to anyone on the same network using Wireshark. (2) Evil twin/MITM: an attacker can operate a rogue AP with the same SSID; since open networks have no authentication, the attacker can position their AP with higher signal strength to intercept traffic before forwarding it to the internet

Answer

Using public Wi-Fi drains the laptop battery faster; VPN reduces CPU load and extends battery life

Answer

The primary risk is IP address exhaustion; the coffee shop DHCP pool may not have addresses for all clients

Answer

Public Wi-Fi only poses risks to unencrypted HTTP; all HTTPS traffic is already fully protected without a VPN; 5 GHz DFS channels are reserved for point-to-point bridges and refuse client associations. The 6 GHz band used by Wi-Fi 6E requires WEP for regulatory compliance. Orthogonal channels share frequencies but alternate polarization to avoid overlap. EIRP subtracts antenna gain from transmit power, so bigger antennas lower it

What are the two primary wireless security risks of using public open Wi-Fi without a VPN, at the network level?

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What are the two primary wireless security risks of using public open Wi-Fi without a VPN, at the network level?

Where this fits in the Network Fundamentals exam

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