WPA3 Wi-Fi is here, and it is harder to hack

There is a new standard for securing Wi-Fi connections, called WPA3.

Here's what it means for you: The new Wi-Fi routers will benefit from stronger protections for the data that travels between your computers, phones or smart home devices and your Internet connection. It will also enhance the security in Wi-Fi networks in the workplace by changing the way wireless works on enterprise networks. The Wi-Fi Alliance, a partnership between technology companies that is developing the protocol for Wi-Fi, has announced some of these features earlier in 2018. On Monday, the organization announced that the protocol has been finalized.

Wi-Fi is easy to take for granted – it's literally in the air all around us, provided we're near a wireless router. But there is tons of sensitive information floating on the ether on Wi-Fi connections, so securing wireless connections is not a joke.

To better secure Wi-Fi users, the new protocol will make it more difficult to perform a common hacking attack on your personal wireless network. This is what is known as an offline dictionary-based attack, and it allows hackers to make endless assumptions about what your Wi-Fi password is. This is based on often on software that attempts to combine common characters, words and even passwords to enter the accounts.

WPA3 is available on new routers certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, and it is up to each provider to install the protocol on existing routers with a software update.

WPA3 replaces Wi-Fi Protected Access 2, more commonly known as WPA2, which was introduced for the first time 14 years ago in 2004. WPA2 security issues have sometimes arisen, reminding us that unsecured Wi-Fi is a bad new.

More recently, the researchers found a flaw that they called KRACK, which could allow attackers on the same Wi-Fi network to access your Internet traffic without a password. Device manufacturers have released patches for the problem, and the Wi-Fi alliance has required that all new routers be tested for vulnerability. It was a rehearsal of a lesson from a decade earlier, when researchers have found a different problem in encryption which keeps the internet traffic secure over a Wi-Fi connection.

Manufacturers like the Cisco network giant have expressed support for WPA3 in statements Monday. Cisco said that not only did it plan to implement WPA3 in its upcoming products, but that it was also looking for ways to update existing devices around the world with software that introduces the new protocol.

"The WPA3 program will bring essential improvements to wireless security protecting all levels of customers, from the consumer to the business [and] government, "the company said in a statement.

For personal Wi-Fi users, the new security protections will work even if the users' passwords are not very complex and hard to guess, said Kevin Robinson, vice president of marketing for Wi-Fi Alliance. But even so, he urged users to be smart about their passwords.

"Users should always choose hard-to-guess passwords," said Robinson. "A user should not choose" password "as the password."