Final answer:
WEP fails to provide confidentiality due to its use of static encryption keys, the reuse of initialization vectors, and a weak integrity check algorithm, which allow attackers to decrypt network traffic and forge packets.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks how WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) fails to provide confidentiality. WEP was designed to give wireless networks the equivalent level of privacy as that of a wired network. However, WEP has several weaknesses that make it inadequate for providing confidentiality. One major failure is due to the use of static encryption keys which are shared among all users on the network. This means that once the key is compromised, the intruder can decrypt data packets.
Furthermore, WEP uses the RC4 encryption algorithm in a way that is susceptible to several types of attacks. Notably, the reuse of initialization vectors (IVs) in WEP leads to vulnerabilities that allow attackers to perform straightforward statistical analyses and discover the encryption key. Additionally, the integrity check (ICV) algorithm is weak and can be exploited to inject and forge packets.
Due to these shortcomings, WEP was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and later WPA2 and WPA3, which offer enhanced security measures that are more robust against attempts to breach confidentiality.