Published: September 22, 2025 by: Rungrueng Huanraluek
Wi-Fi Network Security Standards
In an era where wireless internet connectivity has become an essential part of daily life, what follows is network security, which cannot be overlooked. Protecting personal and business data, as well as reducing the risk of surveillance and cyberattacks, is a matter that households, offices, and organizations at all levels must prioritize. Therefore, Wi-Fi security standards have been continuously developed for over two decades, with the Wi-Fi Alliance as the key organization responsible for defining, overseeing, and certifying these security standards. This article will take you back through the evolution of Wi-Fi security standards, from the beginning to the latest standards used today.
The Beginning of Wireless Network Protection
In the late 1990s, when Wi-Fi began to be used in homes and organizations, a major challenge was preventing malicious users from eavesdropping on data transmitted over the air. The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) organization initiated security standards and assigned the Wi-Fi Alliance the task of testing and certifying devices that complied with those standards.
Evolution of Wi-Fi Security Standards
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) Standard – 1997
The WEP standard was the first Wi-Fi security standard launched in 1997. It was designed to provide wireless communication with a privacy level equivalent to wired networks (LAN) by using RC4 encryption and key lengths of 64–128 bits. Although it helped users feel more confident about Wi-Fi connections, WEP had numerous vulnerabilities and was easily cracked, leading to its eventual discontinuation.
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) Standard – 2003
After the WEP standard was easily compromised, the Wi-Fi Alliance developed the WPA standard in 2003 as a temporary measure to enhance security. WPA uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol), which changes the key with every packet and verifies data integrity, making it more secure than WEP and allowing it to be used with existing devices through a software update. However, WPA could not withstand complex long-term threats.
WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) Standard – 2004
The WPA2 standard was launched in 2004 to address enterprise-level security needs. It uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and the CCMP protocol, which are much stronger than the WPA standard. This standard became the global benchmark for over 10 years due to its high security, but in 2017, the KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) vulnerability was discovered, indicating that WPA2 was beginning to become insufficient against modern threats.
WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) Standard – 2018
The WPA3 standard was launched in 2018, designed to deal with modern threats and support a wide range of uses, including homes, businesses, and IoT devices. WPA3 uses SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals) technology to prevent brute force password guessing attacks, offers Forward Secrecy to protect old data if a password is leaked, and can encrypt data even when connected to public Wi-Fi that doesn't require a password, making it the strongest security standard today.
Future Challenges of Wi-Fi Security
Even though WPA3 is the latest standard, the development of Wi-Fi network security must still face new challenges, including:
