Time to Upgrade your Security

Or at least think about it.

While not yet fully “cracked,” WPA is now officially cracking. WPA is a security technology that many businesses, churches, seminaries, and home-owners use to secure their network traffic. It encrypts all data that is sent from your computer to your router so that others cannot read it or tamper with your network. Two researchers have been partially succesfull in cracking this sacrosanct security technology. Read about the technical details here. Here is a more descriptive analysis.

While homes and smaller organizations probably need not worry about this development, larger organizations that deal with sensitive data should consider upgrading their security to WPA2, which is still considered rock-solid safe.

For the rest of us: next time you buy a router or wireless card, make sure it supports WPA2.

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