Wireless Network Security: Change your WPA Encryption from TKIP to AES

This is just a quick security tip based on some recent news, a couple Japanese computer scientists have figured out a way to crack WPA TKIP encryption in under a minute. This news came out a few weeks ago but after updating my wireless routers firmware I realized I hadn’t made the encryption type change yet myself, so I imagine many other people haven’t as well.

WPA is still more secure than WEP, but now that TKIP has been hacked, it’s best to change your Wireless Router’s encryption method to AES to continue to be secure.

Making the change is quick and easy, just login to your router’s administrative panel and you should find an option to switch the encryption from TKIP to AES.

Obviously this isn’t strictly Mac news, but since it’s a security issue that effects everyone equally, it’s worth posting here. You can learn more from the linked article.

The key takeaway is this: make sure you use the strongest wi-fi security protocol that your wireless router supports, and WEP is not secure. Use WPA2 or WPA anytime it is available, and with a strong password.

Yahoo News: New Attack Cracks Common WiFi Encryption in a Minute