Wireguard is a relatively new VPN protocol making big waves in the tech industry. The Linux version became a part of Linux 5.6 as first broadcasted On March 2020. This protocol supports UDP, making it super fast, as no handshake protocols are involved. Wireguard is designed to provide a simpler, faster, and more effective protocol.
WireGuard protocol is a recently developed open-source VPN protocol that offers better security, faster connection speeds, and easier implementation than traditional VPN protocols. It is a lightweight protocol created in 2016 by Jason Donenfield in order to replace existing protocols.
About Wireguard
It uses modern cryptography algorithms such as ChaCha20 for encryption and Poly1305 for authentication, making it easier to audit for security vulnerabilities and providing improved performance. WireGuard's key feature is its ability to establish connections quickly and efficiently, reducing latency and improving connection speeds. Furthermore, it uses perfect forward secrecy to ensure that past and future traffic cannot be decrypted even if an attacker obtains a private key.
Advantages of Wireguard VPN Protocol
Wireguard is particularly helpful for users operating on mobile VPNs. In network changes, the connection stays strong, ensuring more protection. Here is why Wireguard is the next-generation VPN protocol.
Simplicity:
WireGuard is designed to be a simple, easy-to-use VPN protocol. It has a smaller codebase of 4000 lines, much less than many other VPN protocols. This makes it easier to audit for security vulnerabilities. The compact code uses less battery and CPU, leading to much lower system requirements. WireGuard's simple design also makes it easier to set up and use, even for users unfamiliar with VPNs.
Performance:
WireGuard is designed to be faster than other VPN protocols. Performance tests have proved it to have 13% better throughput than IPSec and 75% more throughput than OpenVPN. This is because it uses modern cryptography algorithms, such as ChaCha20 for encryption and Poly1305 for authentication. These are faster than the algorithms used by many other VPN protocols. In addition to all that, WireGuard's simpler codebase reduces the processing overhead, which helps to increase its speed.
Security:
WireGuard uses state-of-the-art cryptographic primitives and a fresh approach to key management to provide strong security. It uses X25519 for key exchange to establish a shared secret between the client and server, which encrypts and authenticates all data transmitted over the VPN.
For hashing, it uses BLAKE2s, which is much faster than SHA-3. WireGuard also uses perfect forward secrecy, which means that even if an attacker were to obtain the private key of one of the parties, they would not be able to decrypt past or future traffic. The 64-bit counter ensures that all data in the tunnels are protected against encryption or cyber-attacks.
Cross-platform Support:
WireGuard is available for many different platforms, including Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. This makes it easy to use WireGuard on any device, regardless of the operating system. It is currently working on building support for Windows.
Setting up and using WireGuard:
Increase the security and privacy of your mobile communications by installing the Wierguard protocol with this simple guide.
Install the WireGuard software on your device:
To use WireGuard, you must first install the WireGuard software on your device. The WireGuard website provides detailed instructions for installing the software on Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. We will be setting it up on Ubuntu version 20.04.
First, make sure your system is up to date with this command:
sudo apt update
Now we can install Wireguard using this command:
sudo apt install wireguard
Generate a key pair:
WireGuard uses public key cryptography for authentication. You need to generate a public-private key pair for your device using the "wg" utility. A private key will establish a secure connection. You will need to provide the public key to the server administrator.
Using this command, create a private key and change its authentication, so it is readable by everyone but can only be edited by the writer.
wg genkey | sudo tee /etc/wireguard/private.key
sudo chmod go= /etc/wireguard/private.key
This command will create a public key file:
sudo cat /etc/wireguard/private.key | wg pubkey | sudo tee /etc/wireguard/public.key
After running this command, you will receive a single-line output. This is your public key. Copy the key and save it somewhere for reference, as it will be needed later.
Run the following command to ensure your private key has been successfully generated, and note down the result.
cat /etc/wireguard/privatekey
Configure the WireGuard interface:
Once you have generated a key pair, you must configure your device's WireGuard interface. You can do this using the "wg" utility or a graphical user interface (GUI) the WireGuard software provides.
Create a new file with any name, for example, wg0.conf, in the /etc/wireguard folder. Use your preferred editor to add a configuration comprising three sections, including one interface and two peers. When you are done, save the file and exit the editor.
Set up the server:
To use WireGuard, you need a server that runs the WireGuard software. The WireGuard website provides detailed instructions for setting up a server on different operating systems. A convenient ‘wg-quick’ wrapper would bring the VPN to life.
wg-quick up wg0
Connect to the server:
To connect to the server, you need to know its public key, IP address, and listening port. You can obtain this information from the server administrator.
Use the VPN:
Now you can use the VPN to access server network resources. For example, you can use the VPN to access a remote file server or to browse the internet securely.
Conclusion
WireGuard is a relatively new VPN protocol that offers many benefits over older protocols. Its simplicity, speed, and security make it an excellent choice for anyone who needs a VPN. Setting up and using WireGuard is straightforward, and there are many resources available online to help you get started.
