What is a wireless network?
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless communications to transmit data.
A wireless network can be used in various ways. For example, it can be used to connect computers and mobile devices wirelessly to the internet and share files among them. It can also be used to create a local area network (LAN) that connects nearby computers without using cables.
A wireless network is different from a wired network because it does not need wires for the connection between nodes. Instead, it utilizes radio waves, which are electromagnetic waves that propagates through space without any physical connection.
The power of a radio wave is not strong enough to transmit data over long distances. Wireless communication technology uses the transmission and reception of radio waves by communicating devices within a certain range.
How to access a wireless network?
The process of connecting to a wireless network is as follows:
– You need to find a wireless signal and check for SSID.
– You have to activate your device’s Wi-Fi feature.
– You need to select the network you want to connect with.
– If the network is secured, you need to enter the password for that network.
Wireless Network Authentication
Wireless Network Authentication is the process of verifying a user’s identity on the network by using some kind of credentials. There are two types of wireless authentication: open system and shared key.
The most common type of wireless authentication is open system authentication. This type of authentication does not require any kind of password or passcode, but instead relies on the name and password that you have established for your wireless device. Shared key authentication requires that both the access point and client know a shared secret or passcode in order to establish a connection to each other.
WEP
WEP is a data encryption protocol that was designed by the IEEE to provide confidentiality of data over a wireless LAN.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security protocol for Wi-Fi networks. WEP was designed to provide some level of security for home or small office networks.
The WEP algorithm uses RC4 with 40-bit keys and 24-bit initialization vectors (IV). It is now considered broken, since it has been compromised and can be cracked in minutes by using rainbow tables or other methods, such as an attack on RC4 itself.
WEP was developed in 1998 and has been superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), which uses stronger encryption methods.
The most common type of authentication is WEP Authentication. This type of authentication is used by many devices and networks, such as routers, access points, and clients. The way this authentication works is that a shared key is generated between the client and the access point. This key ensures that the client can’t connect to any other access point without knowing the key.
WPA
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a security protocol that encrypts wireless data between the wireless access point and the client.
The WPA protocol was created by the Wi-Fi Alliance, and it is based on the IEEE 802.11i standard.
It was designed to replace WEP, which had been shown to be too weak in the face of modern cracking techniques.
The main change in the new protocol was that it used stronger encryption and included better mechanisms for key distribution through an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) is based on this version of WPA, with some added features.
The weaknesses of WPA are:
1. The encryption key is relatively short, which makes it easier for an attacker to guess the key.
2. The initialization vector (IV) is only 24 bits long, which means that it has a limited number of possible values and can be easily guessed by an attacker.
3. There are no mechanisms to protect against brute-force attacks on the password/key
4. Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) uses a single key for both unicast and multicast communication, making it vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attack
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How to Crack WiFI (Wireless) Networks
In this section, we will learn about the various ways to crack WiFI (Wireless) Networks.
A WiFi network is a group of devices that are connected to each other wirelessly. These devices can be computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets and so on. A WiFi network is a type of local area network (LAN) that uses radio waves to transmit data between devices within the range of the WiFi router or access point.
Some people might want to crack the WiFi networks in order to steal data from other people’s computers or just for fun. There are many ways that someone can use in order to get into another person’s WiFi network and do what they want with it.
Cracking WEP
The WEP protocol is no longer secure, and has been replaced by the newer and stronger WPA2. Passive cracking uses a network sniffer to capture data packets while they are in transit. This data can then be used to determine the encryption key. Active cracking sends packets with a known plaintext and then compares the ciphertext received to determine the encryption key.
WEP cracking is the process of breaking a WEP key.
Passive cracking is the process of collecting enough packets and analyzing them to determine the WEP key. This can be done by using a wireless card and capturing packets with a packet analyzer, or by using a network sniffer on a wired network.
Active cracking is the process of sending de-authentication packets to one or more access points in order to force them to re-transmit their packets, which will include their WEP keys in plaintext when they do so.
Some tools used are
- Aircrack-ng is a wireless network security-cracking toolKismet
- Wifite: is a Linux tool for automated WiFi attacks with a graphical user interface that provides the option to set up a wireless access point in order to carry out an aircrack attack
- Cain and Abel: is used for cracking passwords via patterns of guesses
- InSSIDer
- WebDecrypt
- WEPcrack
Cracking WPA
WPA uses a pre-shared key (PSK) for authentication which can be cracked using online WiFi hacker tools. A short passphrase is vulnerable to dictionary attacks and other types of brute force attack, making it an unreliable choice as a password.
WPA cracking is a process of breaking the encryption on a wireless network. This process can be done in two ways. The first way is by brute force, which means that the hacker tries to guess the password by guessing as many passwords as they can. The second way is by cracking an offline version of the password.
The first method has a higher success rate, but it also takes more time and resources to do it. On the other hand, if you have access to an offline version of the password, then it’s much easier and faster to crack it.
Some tools used are:
- Cain and Abel: is used for cracking passwords via patterns of guesses
- CoWPAtty
- Reaver
- Wifite
- Kismet
What it takes to crack a WEP or WPA key?
Your success in cracking is dependent on various factors. As cracking these keys takes time and some technical knowledge with some tools and softwares.
- Kali Linux
- Network adapter
- Being in range of specific network
- tools such as Metasploit, Nmap, Wireshark for gathering information and monitoring
- Patience
Ways to secure your Wireless network
- Changing default name and password of router can help.
- Make your wireless network password unique and strong.
- Many routers come with network encryption feature make sure you enable it.
- Turn SSID broadcasting off.
- Make sure you enable Firewall.
- Monitor users on your network.
- Update router’s software
This will make it little complicated for hackers to get into network.
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