There are several Wi-Fi security protocols that defend wireless communications. They conceal your data, secure your communications, and block cyberpunks from your network. By and large, WPA2 is the best choice, despite using more processing power to protect your traffic. Learn more about WiFi security options such as VPNs that encrypt your traffic to protect you even further. Our solution will get you covered!

 

What is the WPA2 Standard?

WPA2 stands for WiFi Protected Access II, and along with WPA2 and WPA3, is a security certification program developed by the WiFi Alliance to secure wireless networks. The WiFi Alliance set them in response to critical vulnerabilities that investigators had found in Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which is the oldest and most frequent protocol.

The WiFi Alliance passed WEP as a security standard in 1999. Once boasted to provide the same security advantages as a wired connection, WEP has been overrun by many security issues. As computing power has enhanced, these weaknesses have only worsened. Despite attempts at improving WEP, it can still get breached easily. In 2004, the WiFi Alliance officially withdrew WEP, and any systems still running WEP should be either upgraded or substituted.

 

How Secure is The WPA2 Standard?

On the one hand, WPA2 pioneered the Advanced Encryption System (AES) to supplant the more vulnerable Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) system applied in the original WPA protocol. AES provides robust encryption and is used by governments to protect confidential information.

On the other hand, like its precursor, access points (routers) through WPA2 are weak in the face of cyberattacks. To get rid of this attack vector, WEP should be disabled. Also, one must make sure their device’s firmware does not solely rely on WEP. Here are the pros and cons of WPA2:

 

Pros:

• Fixes many security weaknesses of its predecessors
• Applies 256-bit AES, which is the most powerful encryption method 
• It is mandated by the Wi-Fi Alliance to use on all certified WiFi products
  

 

Cons:

• Still has some security flaws
• It requires the most processing power
  

 

WPA3 is the newest wireless protocol intended to encrypt data even better. It’s more secure than WPA2, but has not yet been widely adopted. Not all hardware automatically supports WPA3, and using it usually requires expensive upgrades.

Encryption tools help protect your data on WiFi networks. Public wireless networks are full of potential security flaws that cyberpunks can exploit for data breaches. WPA2 has become standard for wireless network protection, but online protection is more than just that. 

A VPN offers robust encryption to secure your WiFi. Commonly, your web traffic is sent through your ISP. But using a VPN, your traffic is first directed and encrypted through a VPN server of your choosing.