Lightweight EAP (LEAP) is best described as which of the following?

• A. A proprietary protocol that only works on Cisco-based devices.
• B. A standard widely used across multiple vendors.
• C. An attestation model built upon XML for SOAP-based web services.
• D. An open standard decentralized protocol for authentication users.

Answer: (C)

Lightweight EAP is a Cisco-created Extensible Authentication Protocol used to control access in wireless and wired networks. It is not a vendor-neutral standard; it was designed by Cisco for use on their devices, making it effectively proprietary. Because of that, LEAP relies on a password-based authentication approach inside EAP and has limited cross-vendor support. It is not built on XML or SOAP, nor is it described as an open, decentralized protocol. For these reasons, describing LEAP as a proprietary protocol that only works on Cisco-based devices is the most accurate characterization. (Note: LEAP has known security weaknesses and is generally not recommended today in favor of more robust EAP methods.)