Wi-Fi Alliance Will Release WPA3 Later in 2018

Over the past decade, WiFi technology has made leaps and bounds in performance. The way bits are transmitted has changed over the years but the way they have been secured has not. The time for a new WiFi security is upon us over a decade since the last specification came out. Later in 2018, the WiFi Alliance will release a new up to date WPA3 protocol as an upgrade to the current WPA2.

Wi-Fi Protected Access II, better known as WPA2 first debuted in 2004. WPA2 at the time replaced and supplemented the older WEP and WPA protocols for Wi-Fi devices. Over time, flaws have popped up in WPA2. Some of the bigs ones are the recent KRACK exploit and there are many other known weaknesses. To remedy the issue, the WiFi Alliance will release WPA3 as an upgrade to WPA2 later this year.

WPA3 Includes Important Security Upgrades

WPA3 aims to address certain flaws in WPA2. There are 4 main new improvements in general. First is that the network will now detect and log failed attacks. Second,  IoT devices without screens will have an easier way to connect to networks. This new mode will allow users to use another device to help the IoT device connect to the network via QR code or perhaps NFC. Third, WPA3 includes the addition of individualized encrpytion for open networks. This will make open WiFi hotspots more robust against eavesdroppers. Lastly, WPA3 will move to 192bit CNSA encryption.

Finally, newly Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices will include an upgraded version of WPA2. This includes Protected Management Frames as default to prevent Wi-Fi AP spoofing. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices will also have to raise their standards and default configurations to industry best practices as well. Finally, WPA2 will now standardize on 128bit encryption on a common security suite. Given the widespread use of Wi-Fi, these security enhancements are a long time coming.