When it comes to using a router, it’s well understood that a strong password is essential to protect against intruders. Changing it, using a combination of upper and lower case characters, and avoiding easily guessable passwords are all important practices. However, safeguarding your internet connection goes beyond just having a secure router password – encryption plays a vital role in enhancing your overall security.
Understanding the Importance of Encryption
In today’s interconnected world, where data is constantly being shared and transmitted, encryption serves as a crucial safeguard, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access the information you’re sharing. Throughout history, various encryption methods have been employed, but currently, two options stand out as the most advisable: WPA2 and WPA3. These encryption standards are your best bet for protection against a wide range of attacks.
WPA2 vs. WPA3
In the realm of security, the WPA2 standard was susceptible to relatively easy attacks, particularly dictionary-based brute force attacks. These attacks involve attempting to crack a password by systematically trying out combinations from a dictionary or list of commonly used passwords. However, with the introduction of WPA3, the authentication process has significantly improved, making brute force attacks more complex and time-consuming. WPA3 requires extensive interaction with the WiFi network for each key, rendering unauthorized access far more challenging.
Enhanced Encryption in WPA3
Another crucial security improvement brought by WPA3 is the encryption of communications within a WiFi network. WPA2 used encryption keys with a maximum length of 128 bits. In contrast, WPA3 extends these encryption keys to up to 192 bits. In simpler terms, this means longer and more complex encryption combinations, making it significantly more challenging for unauthorized individuals to intercept and decipher the content of communications between devices and their access points via WiFi.
Steering Clear of Obsolete Encryption
Methods Before the advent of WPA2 and WPA3, there were older encryption methods that should never be used. One such method is WEP, or Wired Equivalent Privacy, introduced in 1997 as an attempt to secure wireless networks. WEP initially aimed to encrypt data to prevent unauthorized access, but it had numerous vulnerabilities. WEP’s static key encryption, whether 64 bits or 128 bits, could be deciphered within minutes, rendering it ineffective. In 2004, the WiFi Alliance officially retired WEP as a security mechanism for WiFi connections due to its inherent weaknesses.
Using WEP today is strongly discouraged, as it is considered an obsolete and ineffective security measure. WPA, which followed WEP in 2003, offered some improvements, primarily through the use of Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), which dynamically changed encryption keys. However, WPA still had vulnerabilities and is no longer considered secure. In 2004, the WiFi Alliance introduced WPA2, featuring a significant change – the use of the advanced encryption standard AES for encryption. Due to these security enhancements, using WPA is also not recommended.