Hello everyone,

On Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, a new wireless vulnerability made the major news cycle.  Dubbed KRACK, it exploits a vulnerability that most major wireless manufacturers have in their configurations that may allow them to view or intercept your network activity.

The good news is that Chapman University’s network is currently protected against this specific attack.   And although it’s likely that other networks are currently vulnerable (such as your home router), it’s still very unlikely that an attacker would be able to intercept your internet transmissions.  First, they’d have to be within physical range of you and the wireless gateway.   Second, the data you are sending would need to be not additionally encrypted by the website itself.   Many websites, such as banks, and even Google and Facebook, routinely encrypt all data by default.

Please be on the lookout for upcoming security patches from all the major manufacturers.  In particular, Android devices may be more vulnerable than iOS, so expect to see patches soon.  Keeping your mobile phones and laptops updated with the latest updates will help ensure that they remain protected and reliable.

For more information, please see the related articles below:

Microsoft has already fixed the Wi-Fi attack vulnerability

KRACK Wi-Fi attack threatens all networks: How to stay safe and what you need to know