A new attack is available against the WPA encryption widely used to secure WiFi networks. WPA replaced the earlier WEP encryption, which has been vulnerable to attacks for years. The new attack tricks a router into sending a large amount of data, which can be analyzed and used to retrieve a session key in about 15 minutes. Although the WPA system isn't completely broken open by this, as hacker have yet to decrypt communications going from a PC back to the access point, it's a significant step towards defeating WPA.

WPA2, an even more secure wireless encryption standard, is apparently immune to the new attack; if you're concerned about data integrity, make sure to use WPA2 if your hardware supports it. An even more secure option would be to set up a VPN, or virtual private network. VPNs assume from the get-go that the connection is insecure, so they create a heavily-encrypted "tunnel" between your wireless device and a computer on a secure, wired internet connection.

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