CompTIA Security+ Exam Prep

Answer: A - Password Authentication Protocol is used by remote users to authenticate over PPP lines and is the least secure authentication method. PAP provides identification and authentication of the user who is attempting to access a network form a remote system. This protocol requires a user to enter a password before being authenticated. The password and the username credentials are sent over the network to the authentication server after a connection has been established via PPP. The authentication server has a database of user credentials that are compared to the supplied credentials to authenticate users. Because the credentials are sent in cleartext, which renders them easy to capture by network sniffers, PAP is one of the least secure authentication methods.