Well, it looks like some geniuses in Japan have figured out a way to decrease the amount of time needed to hack into a WPA protected wireless network from around fifteen minutes to less than one, thus reminding us yet again that modern data security measures are only as good as your local hacker’s level of stupidity (or in this case Hiroshima University researcher).  History has proven again and again that what may seem like a bulletproof encryption technique (remember the MD5 hash?) eventually gets cracked.   Specifically effected in this instance are those WPA networks encrypted using TKIP protocol (AES encryption isn’t effected…yet ), but everyone with a wireless network, even those considered safe, should make certain that other security techniques are employed, such as sending sensitive data over the Internet using SSL encryption, which also is showing signs of vulnerability.

I personally have never truly been comfortable with wireless systems.  While their convenience and ease of use can’t be denied, I’ve always felt like I’m conceding a certain amount of control in terms of who can access the signal emanating from my devices.  Maybe it stems from childhood memories of listening to random conversations picked up by our cordless phone or, more recently, hearing my neighbor’s kid on my baby monitor.  There’s just nothing like a direct copper pipeline to carry data, in whatever form it takes, between two points.  Fortunately, wired Ethernet devices are ubiquitous and power line networking devices are advancing to the point of actually being a viable alternative to stringing CAT5 cable.  MOCA devices, although not mainstream by any means, could allow some homes in which each room has a coaxial cable connection to achieve networked status.  Despite this most recent security vulnerability, I’m sure wireless networking will continue to thrive, but everyone should be aware of the other options.