Cracking WEP in 12 easy pages
Thrax
🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
Wired Equivalent Privacy, which was the first encryption standard devised for WiFi, is the most common type of protection; everything supports it. The downside, however, is that it can be easily broken. Put very simply, the encryption key generated when you configure a WEP key generates another key automatically that's transparent to the user. This key is called an initialization vector. The initialization vector is transmitted along a WiFi signal in an unencrypted format, to ensure that the method in which the network's data is being encrypted is never repeated.
Unfortunately, the initialization vector in WEP is too short, and every (Approximately) 5000 packets, thousands of which occur in just a few minutes, an access key can be gleaned, and entry to your network can be gained. In 2005, the FBI demonstrated the ability to break into a WEP-secured network in three minutes or less using tools anyone can acquire on the internet for free.
Fast-forward to 2007, where the open-source and security movements have grown by leaps and bounds, and WEP cracking is even easier. SmallNetBuilder updates an old article of theirs, and takes you step by step through the wonderful world of breaking WiFi's most insecure security.
For more on WiFi security, please check out Icrontic's very own guide to wireless security.
Unfortunately, the initialization vector in WEP is too short, and every (Approximately) 5000 packets, thousands of which occur in just a few minutes, an access key can be gleaned, and entry to your network can be gained. In 2005, the FBI demonstrated the ability to break into a WEP-secured network in three minutes or less using tools anyone can acquire on the internet for free.
Fast-forward to 2007, where the open-source and security movements have grown by leaps and bounds, and WEP cracking is even easier. SmallNetBuilder updates an old article of theirs, and takes you step by step through the wonderful world of breaking WiFi's most insecure security.
For more on WiFi security, please check out Icrontic's very own guide to wireless security.
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