Wi-Fi’s biggest security update in over a decade is here

Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that certifies Wi-Fi products and conforms standards, is rolling out the certification of products to support WPA3, Wi-Fi’s latest security protocol. WPA3 succeeds WPA2 security protocol that was being adhered to since 2004.

The new protocol does not modify anything on the user end, that is, a password is only required for connecting to the network. However, the new protocol will deploy additional protections for devices connected to Wi-Fi. It adds forward secrecy and prevents offline attacks by making it harder for hackers to crack your password with multiple guesses and limits data hackers to view information if they somehow uncover the passcode.

The WPA3 protocol will take a long time to penetrate into a user base. Users will have to buy a new router to support WPA3 where it is unlikely that their old router will be updated to support the new security protocol. The same applies to gadgets well. Moreover, routers that support WPA3 will still be able to connect with gadgets that use WPA2.

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The Wi-Fi Alliance is expecting an increase in WPA3 adoption over the next year. For now, it is not making it mandatory. With a considerable growth in adoption, the Alliance will make it mandatory for devices to adopt the WPA3 protocol to be considered Wi-Fi certified.

While WPA2 maybe over a decade old, the protocol is well maintained and updated against exploits and attacks. WPA3 will be maintained the same way as WPA2. Various companies are announcing their adopting WPA3, a major one being Qualcomm that has started developing a chip for handheld devices that support the WPA3 protocol.