The Efficacy of WPA3 in Enhancing Human-Centered Privacy in Wireless Networks

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which the Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) security protocol enhances human-centred privacy protection in wireless network environments. There is an increasing emphasis on personal information protection and communication privacy as wireless networks become an integral part of everyday human endeavours. Improved user privacy through Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), the addition of support against offline dictionary attacks, and personalised data encryption are the key features of WPA3, which are discussed in the paper regarding its predecessor, Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2). This paper statistically compares exposures to data segmentation across devices, password cracking, and eavesdropping through two test-beds that simulate real-world free Wi-Fi hotspots with WPA2 and WPA3 security, respectively, using a combination-method evaluation approach. Some areas that require improvement and implementation problems have been identified in the results, which indicate that the privacy of end-users has been significantly enhanced.