WPA3 could be coming to Windows 10 in the next big update due in spring

A while ago we saw how Microsoft released the first SDK based on Windows 10 in the 19H1 branch. An update that will come loaded with new features and among all of them we may find one that stands out from the rest: the support for the new version of the WPA security protocol

We remember that it was in June when the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the new WI-FI encryption standard. WPA3 arrived to succeed WPA2, which was in the news due to the KRACKed attack that compromised the integrity of the data circulating through our Wi-Fi network .WPA3 is the answer to that security gap.

And apparently Windows 10 19H1 will be compatible with the new version of WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). The goal is to improve on Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption and the 128-bit encryption pioneered by WPA2.

Among the advantages of the WPA3 standard, it stands out that it has individualized data encryption and logins based on stronger passwords with the which seeks to prevent someone from finding out our network password.

WPA3 seemed very necessary, especially if we remember how in October 2017 the exploit that affected the WPA protocol was discovered and WPA2 and thanks to a technique called Key Reinstallation AttaCK or KRACK, allowed access to traffic between computers and equipment connected to a Wi-Fi network.

The new standard is resistant to these attacks and will block authentication requests after several failed attempts. In addition adds an improvement in the event that an attacker can find out the password, since by means of individualized data encryption, it prevents access to the connection from being obtained, previous traffic can be decrypted. WPA3 will keep everything you had up to the time of intrusion encrypted.

In addition, WPA3 makes it easy to set up devices without a screen thanks to WI-FI Easy Connect, a method that uses a QR code that we scan using the smartphone to generate a password that we will send to the device in question, later scanning the QR code that it will also have.

For now WPA3 has a residual use, because it is only compatible with the most recent devices that reach the market, something that must change as their presence in our homes increases.

In the case of Windows 10, for now this is not compatible and it will be the update that we will see in spring that will support the new standard, an enhancement that Insiders can now try on the 19H1 branch of Windows 10.

Source | MSPU