Update (6-27-07): I just found out that the makers of aircrack-ng just made this method easier. Two days after I wrote this article, they released a VMWare image of their entire suite of wireless penetration tools. So, instead of downloading and using the generic BackTrack ISO (step 1 and 5) head over to Aircrack-ng and obtain their version.

Update II (6-27-07): I guess packet injection under Windows is feasible after all! The same time the VMWare aircrack-ng image was released, they also revealed a new USB WiFi adaptor that lets you inject and read packets natively in Windows without the virtualization layer. What’s more, you can use the Wireshark GUI instead of the aircrack-ng command line. Personally, I would still go with the Alfa (read more below) since it has nantenna connector. But that’s just me! 🙂

“…crack a WEP enabled access point within a couple of minutes. 3 minutes to be exact.”

That Digg article piqued our curiosity in high school. My friend and I read about how the FBI publicly demonstrated a successful wireless network crack in a minuscule amount of time. Inspired, we obtained a laptop and searched around our neighborhood for WEP encrypted wireless networks. Our plan was to show these local folks how easy it was to acquire their WEP key. Then, we would convince them that we were good, hirable technicians who could upgrade their WiFi WEP encryption scheme to WPA. We spent literally three days practicing, trying to crack our own network with Windows tools. But in the end, our plan never materialized. Why? We were too “n00b” for Linux.

Crippled Windows Users

I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, “I hate being a Windows user.” I hold great respect for computer hackers who are quick to grasp other operating systems, like Linux and OS X, without a problem. But I, having been weaned on Windows since the day I touched a computer, have a hard time operating those unfamiliar user interfaces … or lack thereof. I mean, more than half of Linux is in the shell command line!

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“I don’t have Internet access at home.” What a terrible thing to hear! It is so sad when people tell me that the only way they check their email is by visiting public, community-sponsored, unprotected venues like the library. Internet access is almost as essential as utilities. When my sister informed me that she didn’t subscribe to Internet in her apartment complex because it was too expensive, I compared that to having no running water at home. Its like she hasn’t bathed since she moved in!

Taking pity, I set out to solve her dilemma. Luckily, the great thing about living in an apartment complex is that you are usually surrounded by a neighborhood of trusting technology dummies. At least 5 open wireless signals will abound everywhere … except where you need them the most, in your room. The only place that I could detect a signal was next to the kitchen window. Sadly, it would be too cluttered (and too trashy) to move the computer in the kitchen. However, we could bring the Internet connection to us in the computer room.

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Last week on the freeware review, I wrote about the simplicity of packet sniffing and analyzing with Ethereal. I revealed how easy it was for anyone to tap sensitive data like login information, credit card numbers, social security number, and mission-critical emails traveling on the network. As promised, I will reveal how to actually prevent packet-sniffing software from reading your sensitive data.

As I previously explained, packet analysis passively listens into a network and then extracts the important data, which is usually in plaintext. The key to hampering packet analysis is encrypting that data sent on the network so that it is not read in plain text. The encrypted data that packet analyzers gather is pretty useless without an encryption key. While it is possible for crackers to obtain the key, encryption makes the process a lot longer (and sometimes nearly impossible). There are a couple common ways to do this.

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