With more than nine billion devices currently in use around the world, Wi-Fi continues to have a major impact on everything, from home and office networking to Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, Wi-Fi plays a prominent role in the expanding communications infrastructure, with more and more people around the world relying on Wi-Fi each day for productivity and access to data. Wi-Fi Alliance recently launched WPA3, the next-generation standard that promises new capabilities to enhance Wi-Fi protections in personal and enterprise networks. This is a big step for wireless security and excellent news for organizations with strong security policies.
WPA – a 14-year-old security protocol
“WPA” stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access and is a security standard for users of computing devices equipped with wireless internet connections. WPA is practically a method of protecting the content transmitted between the wireless devices and the router. The original WPA was introduced in 2003 and it was swiftly replaced by WPA2 in 2004. Currently, it is the standard security system in place for wireless networks and built into just about every home or office router one could buy. As the Wi-Fi industry transitions to WPA3 security, WPA2 devices will continue to interoperate and provide recognized security. According to the WiFi Alliance, WPA3 is expected to hit mass adoption in late 2019 and it’s going to be a many-years-long process. Next year WPA3 will become a requirement for devices to be considered Wi-Fi certified.
WPA3 standard brings tighter security to any Wi-Fi connection
According to the press release, WPA3 adds new features to simplify Wi-Fi security, enable more robust authentication, and deliver increased cryptographic strength for highly sensitive data markets. All WPA3 networks use the latest security methods, disallow outdated legacy protocols, and require the use of Protected Management Frames (PMF) to maintain resiliency of mission-critical networks.
The main security features of WPA3 include:
Safer public Wi-Fi Networks
It’s been well established that open Wi-Fi networks, found in local coffee shops, airports, parks or restaurants are a security mess. With a huge amount of unencrypted data passing through these types of networks, hackers can eavesdrop effortlessly. The WPA3 standard will encrypt individual traffic, making open networks much safer to use.
Smart home devices will be easier to set up
Wi-Fi Easy Connect promises to simplify the process of pairing smart home gadgets without any screen or display to the router. The process will be done by simply scanning a QR code to obtain the Wi-Fi credentials, which are then automatically sent to the new smart device. The feature is a replacement for WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), considered somewhat insecure.
Passwords will be harder to crack
Hackers trying to hack a Wi-Fi password will have an almost impossible mission, as WPA3 provides enhanced protection against offline brute-force dictionary attacks. This is especially useful if you’re using a weak password on your home or office network. The current WPA2 standard allows cybercriminals to do offline dictionary-based attacks: they make endless guesses as to what the Wi-Fi password is.
Safer data transfer
WPA3 will bring Forward Secrecy, a security feature that prevents an attacker from recording the encrypted transmission of a session and then decoding it in the future, should the wireless network password be obtained in some fashion.
Advantages for governments and corporations
Governments and corporations will be able to take advantage of WPA3-Enterprise. The new standard provides greater security with stronger encryption options for Wi-Fi networks handling sensitive information. At a minimum, WPA3-Enterprise offers 192-bit encryption, but there are also options for 256-bit and even 384-bit encryption for different authentication settings.
When will you get it?
If you plan on buying a new router for your home or office, it may be a good idea to wait until later in the year or maybe next year to see which devices will support WPA3. The Wi-Fi Alliance hasn’t announced anything about existing devices receiving WPA3 support yet, but probably not many devices will receive software or firmware updates to support WPA3. Most manufacturers will likely spend their resources on developing new hardware devices instead. Networking giant Cisco already voiced its support for WPA3. Cisco said it was not only planning to implement WPA3 in its upcoming products but also looking for ways to update its existing lines of networking hardware.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced a Wi-Fi chip for phones and tablets that are compatible with the forthcoming generation of Wi-Fi. The company says it’s the first to deliver 802.11ax features to manufacturers and the first to support WPA3 encryption.
