Can your wifi be hacked?. The answer is correct and how to secure wifi from hackers? . Your wifi can be hacked by foreign parties by hacking passwords with certain programs.
An example is the Debian Linux OS, which has long been used by hackers and crackers to break into wifi. Therefore you need to secure your wifi to avoid theft of your data.
You need to understand what wifi security is. Listen below.
There are many routers and modems today providing a choice of WPA2-PSK (TKIP), WPA2-PSK (AES), and WPA2-PSK (TKIP / AES) encryption modes for your security options.
If you choose the wrong one, you could end up with a slower and less secure network.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), WiFi Protected Access (WPA), and WiFi Protected Access II (WPA2) options are the main security algorithms that we usually see when setting up a wireless network.
The WEP option is the oldest option and is proving to be quite vulnerable as more and more minuses are discovered. While WPA is much better in terms of security, it is still considered vulnerable to tampering.
WPA2 on the other hand, although not perfect, is currently the most secure option.
Know the type of Wifi Security for Secure Your WiFi
There are many types of security that exist in routers. Below are examples and their functions.
1. Open
Open WiFi networks usually don’t have a passphrase. You shouldn’t set up a WiFi network with an open feature, you could let someone break and take everything you own.
2. WEP 64
The old and very vulnerable WEP protocol standard, so it is best to avoid using it.
3. WEP 128
This is WEP, although it has a larger encryption key size. Even so, he is still very vulnerable.
4. WPA-PSK (TKIP)
This uses the original version of the WPA protocol (basically WPA1). Usually this feature has been replaced by WPA2 and is not secure.
5. WPA-PSK (AES)
This uses the original WPA protocol, but replaces TKIP with the more modern AES encryption.
This feature is offered as a stopgap, but devices that support AES will almost always support WPA2, while devices that require WPA will almost never support AES encryption.
So, this choice does not make sense.
6. WPA2-PSK (TKIP)
Uses the modern WPA2 standard with the older TKIP encryption. It is not secure and is only used if you have an older device that cannot connect to a WPA2-PSK (AES) network.
7. WPA2-PSK (AES)
This is the most secure and ideal option. With the presence of this feature, it will use WPA2. The latest Wi-Fi encryption standard and the latest AES encryption protocol.
You must use this option. On some devices, you will only see the “WPA2” or “WPA2-PSK” option. If you do, maybe just use AES, as this is a very good option.
8. WPAWPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES)
Some devices offer or even recommend this mixed mode option. This option enables WPA and WPA2, both with TKIP and AES.
Apart from that, it also provides maximum compatibility with any ancient device that we might have. However, it also allows attackers to breach your network by implementing the more vulnerable WPA and TKIP protocols.
Explanation of AES and TKIP
KIP and AES are two types of encryption that can be used by WiFi networks. TKIP is actually an older encryption protocol that was introduced with WPA to replace WEP encryption which was very insecure at the time.
TKIP is actually so similar to WEP encryption that it is no longer considered secure, and is now deprecated. In other words, you shouldn’t use it.
AES on the other hand is a more secure encryption protocol that was introduced with WPA2. AES is not the highest standard developed specifically for Wi-Fi networks.
It is a common encryption standard worldwide, even adopted by the US government. AES is generally considered to be fairly secure.
However, it has a major drawback that is present in brute force attacks (prevented by using strong passphrases) and security weaknesses in other aspects of WPA2.
In essence, TKIP is the older encryption standard used by the WPA standard. AES on the other hand is a new Wi-Fi encryption solution used by the WPA2 standard which can be more secure.
In theory, that’s the ultimate difference between the two. But, depending on your router, choosing WPA2 may not be good enough.
While WPA2 is supposed to use AES for optimal security. It can also use TKIP where compatibility with legacy devices is required. In such a case, WPA2-enabled devices will connect to WPA2 and WPA-enabled devices will connect with WPA.
So “WPA2” doesn’t necessarily mean WPA2-AES.
Which WiFi Security Mode Is Best To Use?
Despite AES being the more secure encryption method for WiFi security, many people still choose TKIP.
That’s because of the conception that Wi-Fi connections are faster when using TKIP than AES, or that AES has other connectivity issues. The reality is that WPA2-AES is a stronger and usually faster Wi-Fi connection.
This is why.
1. Which is Safer?
Basically TKIP is a patch for WEP that solves the problem of attackers exposing your keys after observing a small amount of router traffic.
To work around this issue, TKIP fixed this issue by issuing a new key every few minutes, which, in theory, would not provide hackers with enough data to crack the key or cipher of the RC4 stream the algorithm relies on.
While TKIP offered significant security improvements at the time, it has since become an obsolete technology that is no longer considered secure enough to protect your network from hackers.
Its biggest (but not the only) vulnerability is known as the chop-chop attack, which is an attack that precedes the advent of the encryption method itself.
Chop-chop attacks allow hackers who know how to intercept and analyze network-generated streamed data to decipher the key and thus display the data in plaintext as opposed to ciphertext.
2. Which is Superior?
AES is a completely separate encryption algorithm. It is far superior to the security offered by TKIP. This algorithm is a 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit block cipher that doesn’t have the same vulnerabilities as TKIP.
To explain the algorithm simply, it takes plaintext, and converts it into ciphertext. The ciphertext looks like a random string of characters to an observer that doesn’t have the encryption key.
The device or person on the other end of the transmission has a key, which unlocks (or decrypts) the data for easier viewing. In this case, the router has the first key and encrypts the data before broadcasting.
The computer has a second button, which decrypts the transmission for viewing on your screen.
The encryption level (128, 192, or 256-bit) determines the amount of data “scrambling” and thus, the number of potential combinations you might try to stop.
Even the smallest level of AES encryption, 128-bit, is theoretically unbreakable because today’s computing power would take more than 100 billion billion years to find the right solution for the encryption algorithm.
3. Which is Faster?
TKIP is an outdated encryption method, and aside from security concerns, it’s known to slow down systems that are still running it.
Most newer routers (whatever 802.11n or newer) default to WPA2-AES encryption, but if you have an older device, or for some reason WPA-TKIP encryption is selected, chances are, you’re losing significant speed.
An 802.11n or later router slows down to 54Mbps if you enable WPA or TKIP in security options. This is to ensure that the security protocols work properly with older devices.
802.11ac with WPA2-AES encryption offers a theoretical maximum speed of 3.46Gbps under optimal conditions (read: never will). The theoretical maximum aside, WPA2 and AES are much faster alternatives to TKIP.
Conclusion
The best wifi security right now is AES. Because AES is a better technology in every way. Faster router speeds, highly secure browsing, and algorithms even governments rely on make it a must when it comes to options offered on new or existing Wi-Fi networks.
