How to Crack WiFI (Wireless) Networks

WEP cracking

Cracking is the process of exploiting security weaknesses in wireless networks and gaining unauthorized access. WEP cracking refers to exploits on networks that use WEP to implement security controls. There are basically two types of cracks namely;

• Passive cracking– this type of cracking has no effect on the network traffic until the WEP security has been cracked. It is difficult to detect.
• Active cracking– this type of attack has an increased load effect on the network traffic. It is easy to detect compared to passive cracking. It is more effective compared to passive cracking.

WEP Cracking (Hacking) Tools

• Aircrack– network sniffer and WEP cracker. This WiFi password hacker tool can be downloaded from http://www.aircrack-ng.org/
• WEPCrack– this is an open source Wi-Fi hacker program for breaking 802.11 WEP secret keys. This WiFi hacker app for PC is an implementation of the FMS attack. http://wepcrack.sourceforge.net/
• Kismet– this WiFi password hacker online detects wireless networks both visible and hidden, sniffer packets and detect intrusions. https://www.kismetwireless.net/
• WebDecrypt– this WiFi password hack tool uses active dictionary attacks to crack the WEP keys. It has its own key generator and implements packet filters for hacking WiFi password. http://wepdecrypt.sourceforge.net/

WPA Cracking

WPA uses a 256 pre-shared key or passphrase for authentications. Short passphrases are vulnerable to dictionary attacks and other attacks that can be used to crack passwords. The following WiFi hacker online tools can be used to crack WPA keys.

• CowPatty– this WiFi password cracker tool is used to crack pre-shared keys (PSK) using brute force attack. http://wirelessdefence.org/Contents/coWPAttyMain.htm
• Cain & Abel– this WiFi hacker for PC tool can be used to decode capture files from other sniffing programs such as Wireshark. The capture files may contain WEP or WPA-PSK encoded frames. https://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Decrypting-Decoding/Cain-and-Abel.shtml

General Attack types

• Sniffing– this involves intercepting packets as they are transmitted over a network. The captured data can then be decoded using tools such as Cain & Abel.
• Man in the Middle (MITM) Attack– this involves eavesdropping on a network and capturing sensitive information.
• Denial of Service Attack– the main intent of this attack is to deny legitimate users network resources. FataJack can be used to perform this type of attack. More on this in article

Cracking Wireless network WEP/WPA keys

It is possible to crack the WEP/WPA keys used to gain access to a wireless network. Doing so requires software and hardware resources, and patience. The success of such WiFi password hacking attacks can also depend on how active and inactive the users of the target network are.

We will provide you with basic information that can help you get started. Backtrack is a Linux-based security operating system. It is developed on top of Ubuntu. Backtrack comes with a number of security tools. Backtrack can be used to gather information, assess vulnerabilities and perform exploits among other things.

Some of the popular tools that backtrack has includes;

• Metasploit
• Wireshark
• Aircrack-ng
• NMap
• Ophcrack

Cracking wireless network keys requires patience and resources mentioned above. At a minimum, you will need the following tools

A wireless network adapter with the capability to inject packets (Hardware)

• Kali Operating System. You can download it from here https://www.kali.org/downloads/
• Be within the target network’s radius. If the users of the target network are actively using and connecting to it, then your chances of cracking it will be significantly improved.
• Sufficient knowledge of Linux based operating systems and working knowledge of Aircrack and its various scripts.
• Patience, cracking the keys may take a bit of sometime depending on a number of factors some of which may be beyond your control. Factors beyond your control include users of the target network using it actively as you sniff data packets.

How to Secure wireless networks

In minimizing wireless network attacks; an organization can adopt the following policies

• Changing default passwords that come with the hardware
• Enabling the authentication mechanism
• Access to the network can be restricted by allowing only registered MAC addresses.
• Use of strong WEP and WPA-PSK keys, a combination of symbols, number and characters reduce the chance of the keys been cracking using dictionary and brute force attacks.
• Firewall Software can also help reduce unauthorized access.

How to Hack WiFi Password

In this practical scenario, we are going to learn how to crack WiFi password. We will use Cain and Abel to decode the stored wireless network passwords in Windows. We will also provide useful information that can be used to crack the WEP and WPA keys of wireless networks.

Decoding Wireless network passwords stored in Windows

Step 1) Download the Cain and Abel tool

• Download Cain & Abel from the link provided above.
• Open Cain and Abel

Step 2) Select the Decoders tab and choose Wireless passwords

• Ensure that the Decoders tab is selected then click on Wireless Passwords from the navigation menu on the left-hand side
• Click on the button with a plus sign

Step 3) The passwords will be shown

• Assuming you have connected to a secured wireless network before, you will get results similar to the ones shown below

Step 4) Get the passwords along with encryption type and SSID

• The decoder will show you the encryption type, SSID and the password that was used.

Summary

• Wireless network transmission waves can be seen by outsiders, this possesses many security risks.
• WEP is the acronym for Wired Equivalent Privacy. It has security flaws which make it easier to break compared to other security implementations.
• WPA is the acronym for Wi-Fi Protected Access. It has security compared to WEP
• Intrusion Detection Systems can help detect unauthorized access
• A good security policy can help protect a network.