CyberCertPrepNetwork FundamentalsWireless BasicsEASYFree question
What security risk does using public Wi-Fi (e.g., at a coffee shop) present if no VPN is used?
- A.None - HTTPS protects all traffic
- B.An attacker on the same network can perform evil twin attacks, ARP spoofing, or capture unencrypted traffic, and HTTPS does not protect against evil twin or captive portal credential harvesting
- C.Public Wi-Fi always uses WPA2-Enterprise, so it is safe
- D.The only risk is someone knowing your MAC address
Why B is correct
Public Wi-Fi risks include: evil twin APs harvesting credentials, ARP spoofing for HTTPS traffic inspection (with forged certs if the user accepts warnings), and unencrypted protocol capture. A VPN encrypts all traffic from the device to the VPN server, mitigating most of these risks.
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