It’s a scary thing to note that there are more WiFi devices around the world than humans, which brings with it the decade-long problem that is cybersecurity. To overcome the vulnerabilities of the current standard of wireless Encryption protocols, Wi-Fi Alliance has announced the new WPA3 standard for wireless networking. The upcoming WiFi connections aren’t only going to be safer but also secure from your own shortcomings.
While the governing trade group Wi-Fi has already released the details about is latest standards, the implementation of the same might take a while with the end of 2019 projected as the earliest possible timeframe for an upgrade to WPA3. 14 years since the rollout of WPA2, the latest standard makes way for individualised data encryption, meaning WPA3 will protect your data against eavesdropping from within a WiFi network.
WPA3 will also add a more difficult password-based log-in with the help of Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SMEs), a ket which reduces the likelihood of someone being able to guess your password. An upgrade to WPA3-Enterprise will allow the user to make use of a 192-bit encryption strength, which will be harder to hack. Smart Home appliances in the future will also be able to setup using the Easy Connect feature that lets your phone set up WiFi on these devices.
With the introduction of WPA3, don’t expect its predecessor to stop working anytime soon as WPA2 will more or less be made interoperable. While it depends upon individual companies to push WPA3 on their products through patches, the technology will eventually be made mandatory on any device that falls under the Wi-Fi Alliance certification.