Wifi Attacks And Security Part 1

Friends as I have already announced before that we would be writing on Wifi attacks very soon, The series consists of three parts( May be more depending upon your feedback) and will be covered by John Jeffrey. In the first Part John explains about the very basics of Wifi Attacks and security. Before moving on to the advanced stuff such as WEP and WPA Cracking, You need to have the basic idea of how a wifi connection works.

Wifi stands for Wireless Fidelity, Its a device that performs the functions of a router but also includes the functions of a wireless access point and a network switch.
They are commonly used to allow access to the Internet or a computer networks without the need for a cabled connection. Wifi is commonly used in airports , Offices etc


How Wifi Works?


The working of Wifi is pretty simple to understand. The components of wireless network includes a communication device such as a laptop or a cell pone etc, a router and internet connection
The communication device which has a wireless compatibility ( laptops )converts the data in the form of radio waves and transmits it to the router, through an antenna. The router receives the signal and decodes it. The router sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection.

The reverse communication follows the same ( i.e) the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into a radio signals and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter.

Whats the Danger?

Security is an important part of a home wireless network. If you set your router to create an open hotspot, anyone who has a wireless card will be able to use your signal. And he/she will be able to use your internet connection .

To protect and keep our internet private we can use one the following encryptions

WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a weak security algorithm for wireless networks. Its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network. WEP, recognizable by the key of 10 or 26 hexadecimal digits, Its widely in use and is often the first security choice presented to users by router configuration tools.
Although its name implies that it is as secure as a wired connection, WEP has been demonstrated to have numerous flaws and has been deprecated in favor of newer standards such as WPA2.

WPA And WPA 2

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access II ) are two security protocols for wireless networks from the Wi-Fi Alliance that was developed to provide a migration from WEP.
The Alliance defined these in response to serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, WEP

But these encryptions can also be broken , The following demo shows us how easy it is to crack WEP , WPA keys

Demonstration

In this following demonstration Brain Young shows us how easy it is to crack WEP , WPA keys




How to Secure Your Wireless Network

1. Never use WEP as your encryption type, always use WPA Or WPA 2 as your encryption type

2.Use strong passwords , which can not be cracked easily by using a dictionary attack or brute force attack

3. Always Use a Vpn when your using pubic Wifi hotspots

Hope this Information Helps You , For further doubts and clarifications please pass your comments

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About The Author

This article is writen by John Jeffery, He is the owner of Hackholic where he writes security related stuffs, If you are interested in writting a guest post on RHA, Kindly read the guidelines here