In the last day or two, there has been an announcement by security boffins that the implementation of Wi-Fi security protections in many devices has been not quite as secure as it needs to be.

As one reviewer puts it, it has been discovered that there is ” a fundamental flaw in the way Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) operates.”

In the online article Everything With Wi-Fi Has a Newly Discovered Security Flaw. Here’s How to Protect Yourself, Time magazine describes the problem, “In some cases, a hacker could exploit KRACK to inject malware such as ransomware into websites, according to KU Leuven’s Mathy Vanhoef, the researcher who discovered the vulnerability. Vanhoef’s findings were reported by tech site Ars Technica early Monday morning.”

There have always been risks in using public (and unprotected) Wi-Fi hotspots, but now we know that even locations we thought were protected may be sources of malware infection and eavesdropping.

Device manufacturers are scrambling to find the flaws in their code and correct them. In the meantime, end users need to be more vigilant in protecting themselves.

Ziff-davis has just published an article detailing many of the patches that have been created for multiple operating systems to update them to remove the vulnerability: Here’s every patch for KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability available right now.

Big companies and device makers need to quickly correct the problem. And when a patch is available for individuals to install on their own devices, that need to do so promptly.

Fortunately, many consumers and small businesses are relatively (but not completely) safe from this danger. As Ziff-Davis says, “In general, Windows and newer versions of iOS are unaffected, but the bug can have a serious impact on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and newer.”

If you run a small business that creates software or information products, there’s an additional concern. If your computers become infected, you could inadvertently include the malware on your devices in the products you create. This can spread the infection to your customers, damaging them, ruining your reputation and opening yourself to lawsuits.

Time.Com
ZD-Net by Ziff-Davis

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