Researchers Discover 'KRACK' Wi-Fi Security Flaw

Belgium researchers discovered a Wi-Fi security vulnerability affecting a wide range of Android and Linux users, as explained in a research paper. An attacker within range of a victim can penetrate security protocols using key reinstallation attacks (KRACKs) to steal sensitive information like passwords, credit cards and emails, and allow malware to be installed on computers. Mathy Vanhoef and Frank Piessens, researchers with imec-DistriNet Research Group, said the weaknesses are in the Wi-Fi standard itself, and not in individual products or implementations. The problem is with WPA2, a protocol that secures all modern protected Wi-Fi networks. "To prevent the attack, users must update affected products as soon as security updates become available," the researchers said. Google is "aware of the issue, and we will be patching any affected devices in the coming weeks," said a spokesman. Akamai blogged it's aware of the issue but the "bulk of our corporate wireless traffic access occurs over VPN" and is protected with encryption.