{"id":58,"date":"2025-09-23T21:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T21:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?post_type=glossary&amp;p=58"},"modified":"2025-09-23T21:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T21:58:09","slug":"wi-fi-protected-access-2","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?glossary=wi-fi-protected-access-2","title":{"rendered":"Wi-Fi Protected Access 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A security protocol for wireless networks that uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to provide strong encryption and improved security over its predecessor, <a href=\"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?glossary=wi-fi-protected-access\"\r\n                    class=\"yaw-glossary yaw-glossary-alt-link\"\r\n                    title=\"Wi-Fi Protected Access\"\r\n                    data-bs-toggle=\"popover\"\r\n                    data-bs-html=\"true\"\r\n                    data-bs-trigger=\"hover focus\"\r\n                    data-bs-content=\"&lt;p&gt;A security standard developed by Wi-Fi Alliance (a nonprofit organization formed to certify interoperability of wireless devices) to address the weaknesses of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). This new security standard was called Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Version 1. The WPA&hellip;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\">WPA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?glossary=wi-fi-protected-access-2\"\r\n                    class=\"yaw-glossary yaw-glossary-alt-link\"\r\n                    title=\"Wi-Fi Protected Access 2\"\r\n                    data-bs-toggle=\"popover\"\r\n                    data-bs-html=\"true\"\r\n                    data-bs-trigger=\"hover focus\"\r\n                    data-bs-content=\"&lt;p&gt;A security protocol for wireless networks that uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to provide strong encryption and improved security over its predecessor, WPA. WPA2 introduced WPA Enterprise mode. From March 13, 2006, to June 30, 2020, WPA2 certification was mandatory&hellip;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\">WPA2<\/a> introduced <a href=\"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?glossary=wpa-enterprise-mode\"\r\n                    class=\"yaw-glossary yaw-glossary-main-link\"\r\n                    title=\"WPA Enterprise mode\"\r\n                    data-bs-toggle=\"popover\"\r\n                    data-bs-html=\"true\"\r\n                    data-bs-trigger=\"hover focus\"\r\n                    data-bs-content=\"&lt;p&gt;A security mode introduced with WPA2 designed for corporate environments, using 802.1X authentication with a RADIUS server to provide robust security and individual user credentials. The WPA3-Enterprise mode standard uses 192-bit cryptographic strength (AES-256 in GCM mode with SHA-384 as&hellip;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\">WPA Enterprise mode<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From March 13, 2006, to June 30, 2020, WPA2 certification was mandatory for all new devices to bear the <a href=\"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/?glossary=wi-fi\"\r\n                    class=\"yaw-glossary yaw-glossary-main-link\"\r\n                    title=\"Wi-Fi\"\r\n                    data-bs-toggle=\"popover\"\r\n                    data-bs-html=\"true\"\r\n                    data-bs-trigger=\"hover focus\"\r\n                    data-bs-content=\"&lt;p&gt;Wi\u2011Fi is a family of wireless networking technologies based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. It enables devices to communicate over radio frequencies (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) without physical cabling. Wi\u2011Fi provides LAN connectivity for computers, smartphones, IoT&hellip;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\">Wi-Fi<\/a> trademark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WPA2 employs AES with a 128-bit key, enhancing security through the CCMP. The CCMP protocol ensures robust encryption and data integrity, using different Initialization Vectors (IVs) for encryption and authentication purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Initially, devices associate with the Access Point (AP) via an association request. This is followed by a 4-way handshake, a crucial step for ensuring both the client and AP have the correct Pre-Shared Key (PSK) without actually transmitting it. During this handshake, a Pairwise Transient Key (PTK) is generated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4-way handshake involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AP sending a random number (ANonce) to the client.<br>The client responding with its random number (SNonce).<br>The AP calculating the PTK from these numbers and sending an encrypted message to the client.<br>The client decrypting this message with the PTK, confirming successful authentication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Post-handshake, the established PTK is used for encrypting unicast traffic, and the Group Temporal Key (GTK) is used for broadcast traffic. This comprehensive authentication and encryption mechanism is what makes WPA2 a robust security standard for wireless networks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A security protocol for wireless networks that uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to provide strong encryption and improved security over its predecessor, WPA. WPA2 introduced WPA Enterprise mode. From March 13, 2006, to June 30, 2020, WPA2 certification was mandatory for all new devices to bear the Wi-Fi trademark. WPA2 employs AES with a 128-bit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","class_list":["post-58","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","format-standard"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/58\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edk-tech.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}