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Wi-Fi Will Get a Little More Secure This Year

January 9, 2018

The security of all our wireless networks is notoriously bad, but an update hopes to change that.

The problem: As long as Wi-Fi has existed, it’s suffered from security flaws. Most recently, researchers showed that the WPA2 protocol that secures almost every modern Wi-Fi network is wide open to hacks.

The update: The Wi-Fi Alliance, which is made up of big tech firms like Apple, Intel, and Cisco, says it will roll out a new protocol called WPA3 later this year with a bunch of new security features.

What to expect: The new protocol will add extra security to make Wi-Fi networks with weak passwords more secure and also make it easier to set up strong security on devices without screens. It will allow users of open Wi-Fi networks to encrypt their data, too.

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Illustration by Rose Wong

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