Hackers are attacking your WiFi - Here's how to protect yourself

The latest severe security vulnerability was made public yesterday. It’s crucial you’re all aware so you can mitigate against the threat. This flaw is in the WPA 2 protocol used in encrypted Wi-Fi networks.

WPA 2- the encryption, the authentication, the protocol is what the majority of the population are using therefore this means it is a problem of pandemic proportions.

This recently discovered weakness called the Key Reinstallation Attacks (KRaCKs) can be carried out when your attacker is within range of your Wi-Fi network. Please note this is only a local attack, therefore the attacker has to be within range of a Wi-Fi device that is running WPA-2. This attack technique, when pulled off, enables the reading of information or data that you would previously assume to being encrypted by WPA.

So when you think you are sending private data over your Wi-Fi, your data is in fact being read by the attacker, possibly revealing sensitive information – credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, and all that tasty data a hacker wants to get a hold of.

If your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected.

During the initial tests they detected that android, Linux, apple, Windows, Open BSD, Media Tech, Linksys and others were all affected by different strains of the attacks but it is actually most devastating against Linux and android 6.0 and higher because of the way they implement WPA2.

If you use either Linux or android 6.0 or higher, you need to make sure you mitigate the attacks by making the latest security updates as soon as you can.

The attack is successful against all modern protected Wi-Fi networks, so depending on your network configuration it is also possible to inject and manipulate data too.

For example, an attacker might be able to inject ransomware or other malware into your website so effectively, it can affect your privacy and can manipulate your data as well as the integrity of your data. The vulnerabilities of which have been found are in the Wi-Fi standard itself and not in singular products or implementations, therefore any legitimate implementation of WPA2 may still have been affected.

If you want to know the thorough ‘in and outs’ of the technical details, check www.krackattacks.com

How to mitigate against this attack

• Update Security patches - If any of your devices have been affected, make any security updates as soon as they are made available. Especially Linux or Android. You may need to contact vendors the latest available updates.
• 'Double up' on encryption - This helps the prevention of reading of data and modification of data. This is one of the core functions of encryption so you want on add extra layers when you can.
• Use VPN’s – to encrypt the traffic. So if you are on your old android phone, put on your VPN and then the attacker won’t be able to modify the data to insert ransomware and won’t be able to read your data because it is encrypted.
• Use HTTPS - Check for the little green padlock! Check for HTTPS! Check HTTPS has not been stripped and replaced with HTTP. So when you are in your browser, double check HTTPS is there, double check for the green padlock and that HTTPS hasn't been stripped out.

• Use other encryption
  
• Don’t send sensitive data in plain text
  

• Switch off Wi-Fi if not needed
  

• Use 3G/4G or alternative network
  

• Disable client functionality on your router - This is used in repeater modes and disabling 802.11r (fast roaming).