WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA3 are the security protocols used to access the Wi-Fi networks.
The predecessors of these protocols are WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) which was introduced in 1999, and WPA, which was launched in 2003. They both are now outdated versions.
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Some of the key differences between WPA2 to WPA3 are explained below.
WPA2
WPA2 is the second version of WPA, and introduced by Wi-Fi Alliance in 2004.
The method used for encryption in WPA2 is the standard AES (Advanced Encryption System) encryption. The method used in the previous versions was RC4 stream cipher. In WPA2 the CCMP, encryption protocol, is used instead of TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol).
WPA2 uses PSK (Pre-Shared Key) method for key exchange. After the introduction of WPA3, the WPA2 is not recommended to use under the presence of WPA3, but it is recommended to use where there is no WPA3 but only WPA2 and WEP. WPA2 support PMF (Protected Management Frames) from 2018, but the older routers which had not the supported firmware may not support it.
WPA3
As the name suggests, WPA3 is the third version of WPA, it was also developed by Wi-Fi Alliance and introduced in 2018.
There are two common types of modes used in WPA3, which include personal mode and enterprise mode. In personal mode, WPA3 uses 128-bit encryption key, while in enterprise mode it uses 192-bit encryption key.
WPA3 also uses forward secrecy protocol, which is used to improve the security of key exchange and also to resist offline dictionary attacks. It replaces the PSK with Simultaneous Authentication of Equals for key exchanging.
If there is an option for WPA3 in the network, then it is recommended over all previous security protocols, as it is more advanced and secure than the previous ones. WPA3 uses the PMF to protect the management frames from any interruptions.