Wi-Fi Made Easy
Researchers at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California have come up with software that lets users set up secure communications between the devices in a home Wi-Fi wireless network in less than a minute. A user who wishes to add a device, such as a laptop, to the network need only point it at an infrared port attached to the base station. Over the infrared channel, the devices swap digital addresses and short “fingerprints” of cryptographic keys. Then they switch to a Wi-Fi radio channel where they can use the fingerprints to identify each other and exchange full encryption keys, automating the process of making further communications indecipherable to eavesdroppers. Normally, the process is so tedious that many Wi-Fi users don’t bother, leaving their networks open to hackers and piggybackers. The PARC researchers say they hope to license the software to hardware companies this year.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
This new data poisoning tool lets artists fight back against generative AI
The tool, called Nightshade, messes up training data in ways that could cause serious damage to image-generating AI models.
Rogue superintelligence and merging with machines: Inside the mind of OpenAI’s chief scientist
An exclusive conversation with Ilya Sutskever on his fears for the future of AI and why they’ve made him change the focus of his life’s work.
The Biggest Questions: What is death?
New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.
How to fix the internet
If we want online discourse to improve, we need to move beyond the big platforms.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.