Wireless Security Protocols

The many wireless security techniques and protocols are presented here for usage in wireless networks. Now, the majority of us had previously joined a Wi-Fi network with our laptop, tablet, or even smartphone, and in order to do so, we had to choose a network name and enter a password. Wi-Fi networks can now be joined by anyone because they can be simply open and require no password. Nevertheless, Wi-Fi networks will often be secure and require a password. Today, there are numerous protocols available for protecting Wi-Fi networks.

Fig 1:Wireless Security Protocols

WEP

So let's begin with the secure WEP protocol. The first security protocol for wireless networks was WEP, or Wired Equivalent Privacy, which was created in 1999. Additionally, as implied by its name, it aims to offer wireless networks the same level of security that it does for wired networks. This, however, proved to not be the case when it was later discovered that the WEP's 40-bit encryption key was insecure and prone to vulnerability. Consequently, it was simple to hack. Due to this, WEP is no longer in use today and is no longer an option on new wireless routers.

WPA

So, wireless networks required a better security mechanism. WPA is now brought up. Another wireless security system called WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access, was created to address the issues with WEP. Because WPA uses the stronger encryption technology known as TKIP, which stands for Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, it performs far better than WEP. Additionally, TKIP's dynamic key modifications assure data integrity as it is being used. However, WPA is now out of date even if it is more secure than WEP because TKIP did have some security flaws.

WPA2

And it is WPA2 because of the WPA's security flaws. WPA2 was created to offer security that is even higher than WPA. And it accomplishes this by mandating the adoption of a more powerful encryption technique. WPA, on the other hand, employs TKIP encryption, which is known to have significant drawbacks. WPA2 employs the Advanced Encryption Standard, or AES. Because AES employs a symmetric encryption method, it is robust enough to fend off a brute-force attack. The American federal government has actually adopted AES and is currently utilising it to encrypt critical government data since it is so secure.

You can choose from a variety of security protocols to safeguard your Wi-Fi network when you log in to the Wi-Fi router's setup page and visit the Wi-Fi security area. Therefore, WEP is still an option on the Linksys router. Weak and out-of-date WEP is no longer utilised, which is a good thing because it was crap, so modern routers won't even offer it as an option. You may have also noted that both of these routers provide a mixed-security option that offers both WPA and WPA2 encryption. With this setting, WPA and WPA2 are enabled simultaneously, utilising TKIP and AES security.

Now, this option is provided for compatibility reasons since some older devices, such as those manufactured before 2006, may not be able to use the WPA2's AES encryption. As a result, these older devices will connect using the older WPA protocol, while more recent devices will connect using WPA2. Now, some people might wonder why, given that the mixed choice is the most versatile across all devices, you wouldn't just always select it. You can accomplish this, however there is an issue since TKIP is used in addition to AES, and TKIP is weaker than AES, making your network more susceptible to a breach.

WPA3

WPA3 is the current standard for wireless security. In 2018, WPA3 was released, according to the official Wi-Fi website. WPA3 offers the market cutting-edge security mechanisms. It brings additional capabilities to streamline Wi-Fi security, enabling more reliable authentication, and get better defences against password guessing attempts. Since WPA3 was only released last year, it won't be available on every Wi-Fi router you buy today. But over the following few months, you'll start to notice it on Wi-Fi items more and more.