Hawaiian Telcom’s WiFi Providing Devices Are Safe Despite Industry WPA WiFi Flaw

Threat Description

A recent flaw in WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access 2, a network security technology commonly used on WiFi wireless networks) Wi-Fi Protocol was discovered and reported by The Department of Homeland Security on Monday, October 16, 2017. The concern is that this flaw affects the process that monitors WiFi systems used by vendors for wireless communications between mobile phones, laptops and other connected devices with Internet-connected routers or hot spots and could allow an attacker to compromise a secure WiFi connection.

Hawaiian Telcom is continuously working with vendors to ensure that all devices installed in customers’ homes and businesses have been updated with the latest security patches to protect against this exploit. Our hotspot vendor, Skywave, has confirmed that Hawaiian Telcom hotspots are not affected by this exploit.

What you can do to help avoid being affected

Customers can also help to ensure their own WiFi connections are secure by updating their personal devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and tablets with the latest software patches issued by their respective providers (i.e. Microsoft, Apple, cellular providers, etc.).

More technical information on this WiFi exploit can be found at:

https://www.krackattacks.com/

https://www.cert.org/