Since the 1990s WiFi security protocols They have undergone many changes, this with the aim of making them a lot more effective and safe. That is why we currently find different types of security protocols responsible for protecting each home wireless networks.
This is how during all this time they have created WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPA3 networks, where each one of them fulfills the same objective, but in turn differs from one another. And this is how they are in charge of keeping away the unwanted parts that connect to the network and, in addition, they are in charge of encrypt private data which are sent through radio waves.
Therefore, here we are going to explain a little more about what each of them is about and what they are. The main differences that exists between each of them.
How many types of passwords and encryption can a WiFi network have and what are each of them for?
These are the wireless network security protocols What is there currently: WEP, WPA, WPA2 and WPA3, where each of them performs a similar function, but with certain differences from each other. All of them have been created mainly because Wi-Fi networks does not have the same security of wired networks.
As usual, wireless networks transmit data within its reach to each of the addresses that are connected to it, which makes it very more exposed than a wired network where they only transmit the data from a point A to point B.
With this in mind, here we explain each of these protocols:
WEP
known as Wired Equivalent Privacywhich has been developed primarily for wireless networks and approved as a safety standard for Wi-Fi networks. This is how this tool was launched on the market with the aim of offering the same security as wired networks.
But unfortunately this was not the case and a large number of problems were generated. WEP securitysince this one was very easy to break, but difficult to set up.
Until now, WEP it is still a very vulnerable alternative for this type of network. Therefore, those systems that depend solely on this protocol constantly have to be being updated or replaced with the aim of power keep your wireless system safe. Due to all these problems, WEP ended up being abandoned in 2004 by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
WPA
It is also named as Protected Access to Wifi. It was used as a temporary improvement for what was the WEP protocoltaking into account that they presented a great amount of failures and problems. It was like that one day before WEP was officially abandoned by the Wi-Fi AllianceWPA was adopted to start carrying out protection of this type of network.
It was like that thanks to WPA started to get one improvement in protection of the system where most of the applications modern WPA used a pre-shared key (PSK), also known as personal WPAjust like him Temporary Key Integrity protocol or TKIP for data encryption.
Thanks to all this, WPA became a major improvement to what it was WEP. However, as time went by and when it was put to the test and in public demonstrations, WPA also started to look quite vulnerable to intrusion.
This is how it was possible to detect that the attacks that most affected the protocol were not those that were made directly to it, but those that were made in Wi-Fi secure setup (WPS), which is a system developed to simplify linking equipment to modern access points.
WPA2
WPA2 or WiFi Protected Access version 2which became the improvement of WPA, taking into account that this protocol had also presented vulnerability to attack.
This is how this new protocol had a very significant characteristic and which became the most important improvement, and that is that it had the use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which is a completely safe and legal system for what it is the encryption of information classified as secret.
However, just like previous versions also began to present vulnerability, but this time it was when the attacker already had access to a secure wireless network where could access various areas to perform the attacks on different devices connected to the network.
In the case of the vulnerabilities that presented WPA2 mainly affect enterprise level networksand not directly to the networks smaller household. Despite all this, nowadays attacks through the configuration of WPS Secure Wi-Fi continues to have a very high average, where it currently affects WPA and WPA2 protocols.
WPA3
Finally we meet WPA3, this being the most up-to-date and recent WiFi security protocol. However, today most of wireless connections and routers still use WPA2and it is that despite having some vulnerabilities it is still sure.
But, this latest version launched on the market, also known as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3), seems to have all the necessary tools to be able to provide a modern security at wireless networks.
Among the main tools that it has included in its system we find what is brute force protectionwhere WPA3 will be in charge of protecting each one of the passwords of your users no matter how weak they are, it offers a public network privacyit has improved the Internet of Things and offers much stronger 192-bit encryption.
Until now, WPA3 has not reached the entire router marketbut it is expected that for end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 this protocol begins to tread hard on the market of Wi-Fi networks. Where the manufacturers of the same have to take care of create versions that are compatible with devices that have the previous versions. This is a process that can take years to complete.
WPA vs WEP How are they different and which one is more secure?
When we talk about WEP and WPA we refer to what were the first two WiFi security protocol versionswhere WPA eventually had to replace WEP because it presented a great vulnerability to attacks, which makes this second WPA version be much safer.
In the case of WEP was used very infrequently because it showed great insecurity rate since it could be violated very easily. He himself provided a encryption level 2 based on the algorithm rc4 encryption, commonly used by 64-bit and 128-bit keys. Therefore, this protocol was not really the best.
While WPA as opposed to WEP use what is a initialization vector 48 bit, as well as a 128 bit encryption key. In addition, it stands out for using what is the TKIPtaking into account that the first version uses the same key to encrypt all packets that are transported over the network.
Therefore, WPA with TKIP changes all the encryption keys each time one of the packets is transmittedproviding a variation in them that prevents the router can be easily accessed by third parties.
What are the differences between WPA, WPA2 and WP3?
currently exist three protocols called WPA, although the latter has not yet been fully established on the market, but it is expected to be on the market soon routers. Accordingly, here we present the main differences between each of these versions.
In the case of WPA it is much more vulnerable than the next two versions released on the market. Where despite having very strong encryption using 256-bit WPA-PSK, still has a number of vulnerabilities that it inherited from the first WEP version. Due to these failures it was necessary to cmake a second version which would be its replacement with the aim of offering greater protection.
it was like that WPA2 became the replacement for WPA in 2006.which presented a large number of updates compared to the previous version with the aim of improving what was security and encryption where the AES stood out mainly.
That was how he also introduced what was counter encryption mode with block message authentication code protocolwhich would allow replace vulnerable TKIP. However, this version also began to show some vulnerabilities that led to the creation of a third version that has not yet been fully released.
So, what is has finally been released WPA3 versionknown as the WiFi Alliance strikes backwhich offers greater security than that offered by previous versions, this is how it will offer completely updated tools offering a more advanced encryption to each of the users.
This protocol will require that all connections make use of the PMF or Protected Managemebeing this a factor that raises privacy protections with additional protection mechanismsideal for protecting any type of information or data.
Why should I always have my WiFi network with WPA2 or WP3? Benefits
Taking into account everything mentioned above, we can see that the WPA2 protocol is currently the safest and most reliablewhere despite having a bit of vulnerability, he is still able to offer an excellent Wi-Fi network protection.
Therefore, it is best to use the WPA2 and not use WEP or WPA, since they both present greater vulnerability and you will be more prone to suffer damage or inconvenience.
As currently the WPA3 is not fully available yet, you can continue to use the previous version. However, it is best to use this last version in order to ensure a greater protection at all timestaking into account that the latter has advanced tools and updated capable of withstanding a large number of attacks.
Bearing this in mind, Here we give you the main benefits of using one of these two protocols in:
- You avoid having networks with weak access to your system.
- The WPA2 Despite being vulnerable, it has a very strong protection system that will help you to have greater protection in your private data.
- You could have data in open networks more protected.
- They offer you greater ease when device configuration.
- In the case of WPA3 offers you a longer key length.
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