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New WiFi HaLow Protocol May Bring Old Security Issues With It
Trailrunner7 writes: Perhaps because smart lightbulbs that refuse firmware updates and refrigerators with blue screens of death aren't enough fun on their own, a new WiFi protocol designed specifically for IoT devices and appliances is on the horizon, bringing with it all of the potential security challenges you've come to know and love in WiFi classic. The new protocol is based on the 802.11ah standard from the IEEE and is being billed as Wi-Fi HaLow by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi HaLow differs from the wireless signal that most current devices uses in a couple of key ways. First, it's designed as a low-powered protocol and will operate in the range below one gigahertz. Second, the protocol will have a much longer range than traditional Wi-Fi, a feature that will make it attractive for use in applications such as connecting traffic lights and cameras in smart cities. But, as with any new protocol or system, Wi-Fi HaLow will carry with it new security considerations to face. And one of the main challenges will be securing all of the various implementations of the protocol.
The article basically says all this could happen. It says nothing about the new protocol; nor does it talk about anything specific that's known about it.
It pretty much boils down to "here's a new protocol, and since new protocols often have security holes, this one may also have security holes."
#DeleteChrome
TFA is pure unadulterated FUD
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Does anyone else around here ever get tired of being a Cassandra?
People won't heed warnings about stupid new 'tech devices'. But 10 years later, once it has bitten them in the ass, they complain to us that we weren't emphatic enough.
Society gets what it asks for.
More "favorable" propagation maybe (for certain values of favorable)
It'll have better range for the 6 months it takes the 900Mhz band to get shitted up with the 100's of devices now all within sight of each other and the digital screaming match begins. Remember when 2.4Ghz wifi would get you out the front door and 50 yards down the road, and how nowadays it'll barely get from the living room to the bedroom.