Pronunciation: [dˌʌbə͡ljˌuːpˌiːˈe͡ɪ] (IPA) 
The acronym "WPA" is often pronounced as "double-you pee ayy" in English language. This is due to the fact that "W" represents the phoneme /w/ and "P" represents the phoneme /p/ in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). The letter "A" is pronounced as /eɪ/ which refers to the diphthong sound. Therefore, the spelling of "WPA" reflects the pronunciation of the individual sounds that make up the word, as defined in the IPA.
WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access, is a security protocol for wireless networks. It is an improvement over its predecessor, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), and aims to provide enhanced protection for the data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network.
WPA was introduced as a response to the security vulnerabilities found in WEP, which made it susceptible to various attacks. The primary goal of WPA is to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data transmission in wireless networks. It achieves this by utilizing dynamic encryption keys and a more secure authentication process.
WPA operates in two modes: WPA-Personal and WPA-Enterprise. WPA-Personal, also known as WPA-PSK (Pre-Shared Key), is suited for home networks and small businesses, where users share a common passphrase or key. WPA-Enterprise, on the other hand, is designed for larger organizations and employs an authentication server, such as RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service), to verify the identity of each user.
To establish a secure connection, WPA uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) for encryption. TKIP dynamically generates unique encryption keys for each data packet, minimizing the risk of compromising a large portion of the network if a key is compromised.
In 2004, the Wi-Fi Alliance released an updated version called WPA2, which builds upon WPA's foundation with further security enhancements. It became the recommended choice for securing Wi-Fi networks due to its stronger encryption algorithm, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).
Overall, WPA addresses the weaknesses of WEP and provides a secure framework for wireless network communication, ensuring the privacy and protection of data transmitted over Wi-Fi networks.
