WiFi - the most important communications platform

“With 71% of mobile comms flowing over wireless internet, WiFi is now the most significant communications platform around the world. Therefore, when a story like KRACK breaks it is easy to understand why it makes the headlines - the vulnerability could affect millions of people. However, perspective is needed and it’s important to remember these types of attacks aren’t exclusive to WiFi; any wireless technology could have vulnerability.

“The weakness was found in the security protocol WPA2 and enables an attacker to potentially intercept and read the data being transferred over the network - a classic ‘Man-in-The-Middle attack’ (MiTM). These types of attacks will always happen because first, individuals and organisations are constantly looking to expose vulnerabilities. Secondly, the bad guys know there is money to be made from data such as credit card details and personal information.

“Technology companies will release patches to address the vulnerability but in the meantime, to avoid being a victim of a MiTM attack, prevention is key. Consumers and businesses need to ensure their router and appliance is up-to-date, that they only use secure websites as they will have an extra layer of their own security, which is separate to WiFi encryption, and avoid downloading anything from individuals or sources they don’t know are 100% trustworthy. Whilst these actions won’t solve the root cause of the problem, unfortunately there will always be bad guys trying to take advantage, and these steps will help reduce unnecessary risk.

“Security is constantly evolving but so are the threats. The WiFi Alliance takes these types of attacks very seriously and has taken massive steps forward to ensure organisations and individuals remain vigilant regarding these types of threats.”