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Wi-Fi security upgrade

June 26, 2018.

Wi-Fi router.

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Wi-Fi devices have been using the same security protocol for over a decade. But today, that’s about to change: the Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees the adoption of the Wi-Fi standard, will start certifying products that support WPA3, the successor to the WPA2 security protocol in use since 2004. One of WPA3’s innovations is that it protects you against offline attacks, i.e. when a hacker captures data from your Wi-Fi stream, loads it on their own computer and makes multiple guesses at your password until they get it (dictionary attack). With WPA3, hackers will only be able to take one guess offline before the data becomes useless; after that, they’ll have to interact directly with your Wi-Fi device, which means that they’ll have to be physically present. Of course, it won’t be as easy as buying a WPA3 router to enjoy all of the new layers of security; all your gadgets will also have to support it, otherwise the connection is only at the WPA2 level.

Circuit Breaker, “Wi-Fi security is starting to get its biggest upgrade in over a decade.”