The WiFi connection is currently a essential element within the world of communications. The internet has had a very high impact, and as different communication devices were manufactured, the need arose to provide a way for these devices to connect to a network.
Security parameters
The equipment that offers the possibility of provide a connection wirelessly to other devices it has also been evolving. In this sense, different security configurations were gradually established.
At first, anyone would think that such parameters were used to avoid unwanted connection from other devices on the network that you maintain at home or work. But the truth is that it goes much further.
Security types
The security settings that you establish in your router would not only define the way in which other devices can connect to the network, but also the level of protection that can be established in your Internet connection.
Being connected to a network, there is an exchange of information between the device or computer and the server. Security settings will help encrypt this type of information so that your device (tablet, mobile, computer) is safe from any attack. In this vein, there are several types of security available for your wireless or WiFi network: WEP, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3.
Differences between types of security
Something can be certain: by the end of reading this article, you will have enough knowledge about these types of safety to be clear about which configuration to adopt for your wireless network. Therefore, we invite you to continue reading.
What is WEP?
This is one of the first security standards for network connections. It is also known as privacy equivalent to wiringTherefore, anyone could understand that this type of security was established, mainly, to connections through a cable.
The moment the teams Wifi began to make a presence in the market, this security and privacy configuration began to be developed for wireless networks.
Did you do it? Not at all, wireless networks adopting this configuration proved to be highly vulnerable. So it is not a recommended configuration.
Evolution to WPA
After the little reliability left by the configuration WEP In wireless networks, it was decided to continue developing a system to optimize the security of a connection.
Out of all the fixes that were made to the WEP security type, WPA emerged. Basically, the operation was the same: authenticated users that requested to establish a connection to the network through a previously shared key.
However, the boot vector (48-bit) and key encryption (128-bit) make this type of configuration much more secure and reliable for your router.
From WPA to WPA2
However, the developers considered that there were still areas to improve, because, although WPA maintained higher security levels than WEP, it was still vulnerable to attacks.
For this new protocol, Wifi Alliance included a encryption algorithm “Advanced Encryption Standard”, also known as “AES”, which gave a security index to the networks much higher than the previous ones.
Now … vulnerable? Without a doubt. Of course, to attack a network with this type of security configuration, unlike the previous two, a requirement had to be met: to have network access.
WPA3, final?
Given the constant improvement of these security protocols, in 2018, WiFi Alliance announced the launch of this protocol, which, ensures improve password security levels and it will provide a simpler interface for configuration.
Which to choose?
After all the above, it can be ensured that the configuration WPA2 is one of the best you could use if it is a wireless connection in your home, due to the small number of people who can stay connected, which reduces the risk of attacks.
WPA3 will undoubtedly be one of the best, but it can be said that it is a protocol that is still under development, progressively routers that have this type of configuration will go on sale.