New WiFi Attack Cracks WPA/WPA2

A new report describes the work of a researcher trying to test new WPA3 WiFi security. The new attack will not work on routers equipped with the newer WPA3 WiFi standard. It can, however, defeat the older WPA/WPA2 WiFi security easier than ever before.

Prior attack methods required hackers to wait for an authorized connection to the router, intercepting details of the connection to determine the WiFi password. This is a brute force method which involves both a wait for a connection attempt and a potentially extended decoding effort once the encrypted password is captured.

The new attack method reportedly uses the RSN IE (Robust Security Network Information Element) which allows for an attack without waiting for any authorized connection. Details are still being investigated but preliminary reports indicate that most modern routers could be attacked in this manner.

Watch your routers for unusual activity and upgrade to WPA3 when available.