Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WPA3 Improves Healthcare Network Security

Wi-Fi Alliance announced the third generation of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Protected Access, WPA3, has been finalized. WPA3 improves on WPA2, which has been in use for over a decade, by simplifying security features as well as improving them. These improvements will enhance healthcare network security as more connected devices are introduced to the network. The initial announcement of WPA3 came back in January. Hardware vendors can now begin to produce products with WPA3 security, but the products will still be interoperable with WPA2 protocols so legacy systems will still function properly. WPA is a standard that provides security as different devices are sending and receiving data over a Wi-Fi connection. The standard prevents hackers from intercepting data through the wireless connection. WPA2 uses the four-way handshake to authenticate data exchange by facilitating the process of creating encryption keys.   “Wi-Fi security technologies may live for decades, so it’s important they are continually updated to ensure they meet the needs of the Wi-Fi industry,” SAR Insight & Consulting’s Joe Hoffman said in a statement. “Wi-Fi is evolving to maintain its high-level of security as industry demands increase.”   WPA3 is available in two different modes: WPA3-Personal and WPA3-Enterprise. The enterprise version offers the equivalent of 192-bit cryptographic strength, which is an improvement over WPA2 that will cater to the needs of the healthcare industry. These improvements will provide additional security to data transmissions containing PHI and other sensitive data. “Hospitals are keenly aware of the critical importance of data privacy and security and maintaining a robust security policy means accessing the strongest security measures available,” Philips Healthtech Director of Wireless and CTO Phil Raymond said in a statement. “Philips applauds Wi-Fi Alliance for building upon the success of WPA2 with the latest security mechanisms now available in WPA3.” The WPA3 protocol will make it more difficult for hackers to run some of the more common cyberattacks and will offer better overall protection to organizations. Evolving security threats call for changes in network security standards, which is why WPA3 has been so highly anticipated. While WPA2 is still useful, it has several problems that WPA3 hopes to remedy.