Most wireless connections are secured with the Wi-Fi Protocol Acess. WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protocol Access 2) encrypts the connection between a PC or Smartphone and Wi-Fi Access Point to make your browsing safe. But this encrypted connection can be cracked, it is feasible for somebody to read what is transmitted over the network, permitting them to intercept the passwords or credit card details or to infuse malicious code when user visit websites.
KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) is a significant security flaw that can put your Wi-Fi at risk and allow an unauthorized third-party to access all your personal information via a wireless network. This is a major implication for Android devices, especially for version 6.o and above as well as Linux devices.
While the declarations are concerning and most of the devices that use Wi-Fi is vulnerable, KRACK can be deployed in certain circumstances. So, there is no need to change your passwords as you have additional layers of security securing your account details.
How does KRACK work?
WPA2 security protocol is used to encrypt the traffic over wireless networks. The KRACK attack misuses the initial connection between your PC or smartphone and your router and permits an attacker to access your local network. But it requires the attacker to be physically close to your Wi-Fi network to play a Man-in-the-Middle attack.
Most of Wi-Fi networks use a “4-way handshake”. This is a series of messages exchanged between the user and access point to make sure that both parties have the right credentials. Once the connection is established, the attacker can send the third message to be resent, which needs an existing key to be reused. These keys are utilized to scramble the message content to protect them from being read and altered. By forcing the reuse of old keys, these protections are successfully removed and it becomes easy to decrypt the messages on Android version 6.o and above.
Protect your devices from KRACK’s Wi-Fi flaws
Since the Key Reinstallation Attack is against wireless devices such as mobile and laptops, take the following steps to keep your online traffic safe.
Upgrade your devices
Immediately download and apply all the updates that release for Android and Windows devices to protect against KRACK and still communicate with unpatched hardware while being secured with the security flaws. Updated devices are already protected.
Use websites with HTTPS
Until patches are accessible, it is important to remember the Wi-Fi networks, even when secure, to have only protected communications. For end-to-end security with websites, we depend on HTTPS to keep the connection secure. Ensure “https:” in the URL of websites you browse.
Usually, this would secure users even on a compromised network, still, it is beneficial to avoid HTTPS if the website is not securely configured.
Use Encrypted Services
The communication methods which are used in drafting, sending, and receiving emails, should also be encoded. Although, the scenario is not always same. Services such as Gmail and other email services are encrypted by default. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and FaceTime are the secured applications which have their own end-to-end encryption technology.
Get a VPN
Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection is an approach to ensure a secured communication while utilizing any form of Wi-Fi network. VPNs offer their own encryption methodologies, which secure all communication or data is transferred over the Wi-Fi network and would still offer the protection, even in the scenario of someone using WPA2 KRACK.
It is fairly impossible to design a perfect security system. But using a multi-tiered security approach, you can undoubtedly decrease the chances of successful KRACK attack.
If you have any further queries and suggestions, let us know via comments. We are happy to help you.