Wi-Fi Security - WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3

Wi-Fi security has evolved through several protocols, each addressing weaknesses found in the one before it.

WEP - The Early Standard

Wired Equivalent Privacy was the original Wi-Fi security protocol but is now considered fundamentally broken, with well-known tools able to crack its encryption within minutes.

WPA and WPA2

WPA introduced stronger encryption as a stopgap improvement over WEP, while WPA2 brought robust AES encryption and became the long-standing industry standard for wireless security.

WPA3 - The Current Standard

WPA3 improves on its predecessor with stronger encryption, better protection against offline password guessing attempts, and improved security even on networks using weaker passwords.

Choosing the Right Protocol

Wherever possible, networks should be configured to use WPA3 or at minimum WPA2, since older protocols like WEP and original WPA offer little real protection against modern attack tools.