Last year, when security researchers cracked WPA2 withthe KRACK exploit, questions were raised about its ability to protect billions of WiFi-enabled devices around the world.
As a result, in January 2018, the WiFi Alliance announced a major upgrade to the WiFi security protocol, called WPA3 (WiFi Protected Access III). Now, after nearly six months, WPA3 is official.
WPA3 is designed to make authentication stronger and increase the cryptographic strength of wireless networks. For everyday users, the standard brings personalized data encryption and makes password-based connections more robust by implementing Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) – a basic setup protocol that makes passwords harder to guess.
For Enterprise users, it offers encryption “equivalent to 192-bit cryptographic strength,” providing a secure means of transporting sensitive data.
The WiFi Alliance has also introduced Easy Connect, which reduces the complexity of adding WiFi devices with limited or no display to a network, such as IoT devices. For such devices, smartphones and QR codes can be used.
WPA3 replaced its predecessor after 14 years of existence. Eventually, the new security protocol will take over WPA2’s empire, but it’s not going to happen overnight. How quickly it starts depends on manufacturers and how long it takes for WPA3 routers and other devices to be released. But WPA2 is here to stay. It goes without saying that WPA3-compatible devices will work with WPA2 devices.
