AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOLS IN WIRELESS NETWORKS: WEP, WPA, AND WPA3

Wireless networks at home or in the public rely on authentication protocols to protect data from unwanted access. Because the wireless signals pass through the air, they could easily be intercepted; thus, security is important. To keep our networks secure, protocols such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and even Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) have, over time, been developed. Each of these protocols offers some very unique features, benefits, and limitations; knowledge about such differences is necessary for securing any wireless network.

1. WEP: The First Wireless Security Protocol

Wired Equivalent Privacy, or simply WEP, is an early security protocol devised to secure the Wi-Fi network. It was introduced in 1997 and designed to make wireless networks as secure as wired networks. It uses a simple method of encrypting data to maintain privacy.

Strengths:

WEP was rather easy to implement, required very minimal computing power, and thus became a Favorite in early Wi-Fi devices.

Weaknesses:

Unfortunately, the sad truth is that WEP was a hacker's dream. It used a static password never changed encryption key that an attacker, with the right tools, could decipher in a very short period of time. The security it provided was very weak and became even easier to break into a WEP-protected network as the hacking tools became sophisticated. Because of the aforementioned security issues, WEP was phased out in 2004 and is rarely used today, except on very old devices.

2. WPA: The Improved but Temporary Solution

In an effort to improve on WEP's security shortfalls, WPA came about in 2003. WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) was actually a temporary fix until a much more secure protocol could be designed and implemented. It improved security by using Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, or TKIP, which created a unique encryption key for each packet, or segment of data, traversing the network.

Strengths:

By making use of a different encryption key for every packet of data, WPA made it a bit more difficult for the hackers to break into the networks. It was further backward-compatible; hence, older devices that ran WEP could upgrade to WPA with no need to change hardware.

Weaknesses:

A little more secure than WEP, WPA still had some weaknesses. With more advanced kinds of techniques, hackers were able to break it, and this protocol also had a tendency to slow down older devices using higher processing power. Eventually, WPA was replaced by WPA2, which offered much better security. Due to this, nowadays, WPA is seldom in use except on devices that cannot support an upgrade to WPA2.

3. WPA3: The Modern Standard for Wireless Security

WPA3 became available in 2018 and is considered to be the most secure protocol of wireless networks. It grounds its base on improvements from WPA2 and introduces even more advanced features protecting users against modern methods of hacking.

Key Features:

Simultaneous Authentication of Equals: SAE is the new technique behind how devices authenticate one another. Much more secure than any previous techniques, it limits password guesses a hacker can perform.

WPA3 offers individual data encryption-even on a shared network, each user's data is separately encrypted. It will just about be impossible for one user to see another user's data. WPA3 uses stronger encryption keys than WPA2. It has the added advantage of making network access quite tough for the hackers.

Strengths:

WPA3 provides enhanced protection against brute-force attacks, which use repeated attempts to guess passwords. It also supports forward secrecy, meaning that even when the password of a network is disclosed, an attacker can never access any data from times predating this.

Weaknesses:

WPA3 requires newer hardware, thus it's not compatible with older devices. This is probably one reason why implementation in companies and homes takes some time due to older equipment. A higher security of the protocol requires more powerful computing, which may impact performance on some devices.

WPA3 is the most applicable solution nowadays to protect your Wi-Fi network and has been encouraged by security experts to used both in-home and enterprise networks.

Comparison of the protocols and practical application

In all, WPA3 is the most secure protocol available today, while WPA2 is quite good for older devices. WEP is all but extinct because of serious security issues. Here's where each of these protocols might be used today:

Home Networks: WPA2 and WPA3 are both good for home networks. Those who can use WPA3 should have it as the default, especially on smart home devices, due to its stronger protection against unauthorized access.

Public and Enterprise Networks: WPA3 is preferred in businesses and public networks because of its developed features of security with strong encryption. For the enterprises, protection is provided at a high level in WPA3-Enterprise.

From the very basic security in WEP to the quite advanced security in WPA3, wireless network protocols have progressed in major ways. Each one of those protocols served its purpose in various times, but now WPA3 is the leading way in offering strong protection from current threats. As technology changes and new methods are developed, so too does the understanding of these protocols evolve to better our choices in how we protect both our data and our devices.