The Wi-Fi Alliance has started certifying products equipped with the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) security standard.

WPA2 is an amendment to the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11 standard based around 802.11i.

This boosts the strength of data encryption by using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead of the Data Encryption Standard.

"Enterprise security needs are not a stationary target, and the Wi-Fi Alliance is committed to certification programmes that meet evolving security requirements," said Wi-Fi Alliance managing director Frank Hanzlik in a statement.

"WPA2 is ideally suited for enterprises in both the public and private sectors.

"Products that are certified for WPA2 give IT managers the assurance that the technology meets interoperability standards, and helps them manage support and deployment costs."

The standard is backwards compatible with existing WPA hardware, but users of older hardware may not be able to upgrade as AES encryption is much more processor intensive.

Most hardware vendors are putting a dedicated processor into new hardware to handle the load, but older equipment may have to be replaced.

Cisco, Intel, Realtek, Atheros and Broadcom were among the first companies to confirm that they had received certification.

"We have been building WPA2 capability into our hardware from day one," said Gordon Lindsay, product line manager for wireless in Europe at Broadcom.

"I think WPA2 is going across the industry, and you won't see much lag from vendors in implementing it. This will be the last major security upgrade for a while, then the focus will be on usability."