Digital Trends

Industry association requires that all new Wi-Fi products wanting certification must support new WPA2 security going forward.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry association of more than 250 companies focused on wireless networking, today announced that, going forward, all "Wi-Fi Certified" products would be required to comply with WPA2 security protocols. Nearly 600 products with this standard have so far been certified since the program was optionally introduced in 2004.

WPA2, said the Wi-Fi Alliance, is the second generation of Wi-Fi protection. It is based upon the full IEEE 802.11i standard, including the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which is "government-grade" data encryption developed by the U. S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. WPA2 can be configured to support the earlier WPA security protocol.

Two types of WPA2 exist: personal and enterprise. In personal mode, data is encrypted with AES and uses a password to establish Wi-Fi connectivity. In enterprise mode, data is encrypted with AES and verifies the identity of network users using one of five different Extensible Authentication Protocols, or EAP, to fit different usage scenarios.

"By requiring WPA2 for all Wi-Fi Certified products, we're making it easy for people to be confident that the very latest generation of security is there, built in, and ready to use," said Wi-Fi Alliance Managing Director Frank Hanzlik. "WPA2 helps ensure that only authorized users can access a network, and that the data they send and receive can't be compromised."