360 update adds WPA2, nothing else
This isn’t the update you’re looking for.
Every now and then there is an update for a console that does something vague, like “improved compatibility” and sometimes not even that. For those of you firing up your 360’s, your update gives your wireless dongle-thing the ability to use WPA2, and that’s all.
For those of you out there not cool enough to go to a community college for computer networking, WPA2 is a security measure for wireless networks. I’m not entirely sure if the 360’s wireless adapter supports WPA regular (as I’m neither rich or desperate enough to buy a wireless thing), but this is something that I’ve had available on my wireless access point/firewall/laser party generator since around 2006. It’s about time.
I do suppose it’s better than the DSLite, which my family has multiple of, that doesn’t support anything beefier than WEP. To give you some scale of how powerful WEP is, it’s the opposite of this gargantuan-terrifying-death-machine.
My calculator can practically crack a WEP key. I know what you’re thinking, “But Overlord, why do I need to game securely?”. Well, remember all that credit card information you send when you buy anything? That’s being broadcast, over radio waves, available for anyone to sniff it out. If that’s not secure, neither is your bank account.
Be glad for this update, even if it’s a little late.
Source: Major Nelson’s Blog via VG247
It already had WEP and WPA so it simply adds WPA2. And its the Xbox 360 firmware itself that is getting the ability to ’speak’ WPA2 to the adapter – the adapter’s firmware isn’t altered.
It is causing strange issues with my console though.