An (Updated) Hacker’s Toolkit

We thought that this would be a good time to update this popular article, as new tools to hack private communications in WiFi hotspots are always evolving. This article discusses some of the most well-known WiFi hacking tools.

Instructions

Unfortunately, novice hackers don’t have to look very hard to find all they need to know regarding how to hack. For example:

• Kali Linux is one of the best known hacking tool collections, and their website provides many how-to hacking links.
• YouTube now has more than 300,000 videos on WiFi hacking, some with millions and millions of views. One of the first listed is called “how to hack any WiFi hotspot in about 30 seconds.”
• There are many other hacking websites out there, but since many of them are dubious and may have malware installed on them, we do not want to link to them as they may put you at risk.

Software

The following is a list of the top 10 tools preferred by both ethical and black hat hackers in 2015:

• Angry IP Scanner: Angry IP Scanner is a free network scanner that is very easy to use. It scans IP addresses and ports to find open ports.
• Burp Suite:  A penetration testing tool that has several features that can map out the various pages and structure of a website by looking at cookies, and then initiates attacks on various web applications.
• Cain & Able: This is a multi-purpose tool that can intercept network traffic, using information contained in those packets to crack encrypted passwords using dictionary, brute-force and cryptanalysis attack methods, record VoIP conversations, recover wireless network keys, and analyze routing protocols. Its main purpose is the simplified recovery of passwords and credentials. This software has been downloaded over 400,000 times.
• Ettercap: This widely used hacking tool works by placing a user’s network interface into promiscuous mode and by ARP poisoning, which is a process in which the hacker gives the wrong MAC or IP address to the network in order to carry out a Man-in-the-Middle attack.
• John the Ripper: This hacking tool is popular for dictionary attack. It takes text string samples from a large dictionary, encrypts it in the same way as the password being crack, and then compares the output to the encrypted string. This is an example of a brute force attack.
• Metasploit: This hacking tool can be used for exploiting a network’s backdoor. While it’s not free, it is a huge popular penetration testing tool used by both ethical hackers, as well as unethical ones. It helps provide information about known security vulnerabilities for a network.
• NMap: Also known as Network Mapper (or nmap for short), this free hacking tool is used by network administrators for security and auditing purposes. It uses IP packets to determine what hosts are available on the networks, what services they offer, what types of protocols are being used, what operating systems are being used on the network, and what type of packet filters and firewalls are being used.
• Nessus Remote Security Scanner: This hacking tool can be used with client-server frameworks, and is the most popular vulnerability scanner worldwide.
• THC Hydra: This is another password hacking tool that uses a dictionary or brute force attack to try various password and login combinations against a log in page.
• Wapiti: This is a penetration testing tool that is able to scan hundreds of possible vulnerabilities. It can audit the security of web application by performing black box scans, which scans the HTML pages of the application it is trying to attack in order to inject data.

For hackers that prefer a turn-key package, there are also hardware wireless hacking tools available. We’ve highlighted one called WiFi Pineapple. It’s a simple, small, portable device that can be carried into any hotspot and used to attract any laptop trying to find a WiFi  access point. The Pineapple uses a technique called an Evil Twin attack. Hackers have used tools like KARMA to do the same thing for years, but with Pineapple, now you can buy a piece of hardware for only $100 that allows you to become a hacker without downloading or installing any software.

Here’s what their website says: “Of course all of the Internet traffic flowing through the pineapple such as e-mail, instant messages and browser sessions are easily viewed or even modified by the pineapple holder.”

Hacking Countermeasures

Fortunately, there are resources that you can use to help combat these threats. Below are two excellent books:

• Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, by Joel Scambray. This book talks about security from an offensive angle and includes a catalog of the weapons hackers use. Readers see what programs are out there, quickly understand what the programs can do, and benefit from detailed explanations of concepts that most system administrators do not understand in detail. Hacking Exposed wastes no time in explaining how to implement the countermeasures that will render known attacks ineffective. Taking on the major network operating systems and network devices one at a time, the authors tell you exactly what UNIX configuration files to alter, what Windows NT Registry keys to change, and what settings to make in NetWare.
• Wi-Foo: The Secrets of Wireless Hacking, by A. Vladimirov, K. Gavrilenko, and A. Mikhailovsky. This book is the first practical and realistic book about 802.11 network penetration testing and hardening, based on a daily experience of breaking into and securing wireless LANs. Rather than collecting random wireless security news, tools, and methodologies, Wi-Foo presents a systematic approach to wireless security threats and countermeasures starting from the rational wireless hardware selection for security auditing and describes how to choose the optimal encryption ciphers for the particular network you are trying to protect.

Definitions

The following list includes common WiFi terms discussed in this white paper. For additional terms and definitions, please see our online glossary.

Brute Force Attack

Brute force (also known as brute force cracking) is a trial and error method used by application programs to decode encrypted data such as passwords through exhaustive effort (using brute force) rather than employing intellectual strategies. Just as a criminal might break into, or “crack” a safe by trying many possible combinations, a brute force cracking application proceeds through all possible combinations of legal characters in sequence. Brute force is considered to be an infallible, although time-consuming, approach.

Encryption

Encryption is the translation of data into a secret code. To read encrypted data, you must have access to the secret key or password that was used to translate the data into cipher text. That same key or password enables you to decrypt cipher text back into the original plain text. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security, but depends on using keys known only by the sender and intended recipient. If a hacker can guess (crack) the key, data security is compromised.

Evil Twin

This is a rogue WiFi access point that appears to be a legitimate one, but actually has been set up by a hacker to intercept wireless communications. An Evil Twin is the wireless version of the “phishing” scam: an attacker fools wireless users into connecting their laptop or mobile phone by posing as a legitimate access point (such as a hotspot provider). When a victim connects to the Evil Twin, the hacker can launch man-in-the-middle attacks, listening in on all Internet traffic, or just ask for credit card information in the standard pay-for-access deal. Tools for setting up an evil twin are easily available (e.g., Karma and Hotspotter). One recent study found that over 56% of laptops were broadcasting the name of their trusted WiFi networks, and that 34% of them were willing to connect to highly insecure WiFi networks – which could turn out to be Evil Twins.

HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) combines the Hypertext Transfer Protocol used by browsers and websites with the SSL/TLS protocol used to provide encrypted communication and web server authentication. HTTPS connections are often used to protect payment transactions on the Internet so that anyone that might intercept those packets cannot decipher sensitive information contained therein.

Man-In-the-Middle Attacks

A man-in-the-middle attack is a form of active eavesdropping in which the attacker makes independent connections a communication source and destination and relays messages between them, making those victims believe that they are talking directly to each other, when in fact the entire conversation is being controlled by the attacker. The attacker must be able to intercept all messages exchanged between the two victims. For example, an attacker within reception range of an unencrypted WiFi access point can insert himself as a man-in-the-middle by redirecting all packets through an Evil Twin. Or an attacker can create a phishing website that poses as an online bank or merchant, letting victims sign into the phishing server over a SSL connection. The attacker can then log onto the real server using victim-supplied information, capturing all messages exchanged between the user and real server – for example, to steal credit card numbers.

Sidejacking

Sidejacking is a web attack method where a hacker uses packet sniffing to steal a session cookie from a website you just visited. These cookies are generally sent back to browsers unencrypted, even if the original website log-in was protected via HTTPS.  Anyone listening can steal these cookies and then use them access your authenticated web session. This recently made news because a programmer released a Firefox plug-in called Firesheep that makes it easy for an intruder sitting near you on an open network (like a public wifi hotspot) to sidejack many popular website sessions. For example, a sidejacker using Firesheep could take over your Facebook session, thereby gaining access to all of your sensitive data, and even send viral messages and wall posts to all of your friends.

Sniffers

Packet sniffers allow eavesdroppers to passively intercept data sent between your laptop or smartphone and other systems, such as web servers on the Internet. This is the easiest and most basic kind of wireless attack. Any email, web search or file you transfer between computers or open from network locations on an unsecured wireless network can be captured by a nearby hacker using a sniffer. Sniffing tools are readily available for free on the web and there are at least 184 videos on YouTube to show budding hackers how to use them. The only way to protect yourself against WiFi sniffing in most public WiFi hotspots is to use a VPN to encrypt everything sent over the air.

SSL

A Netscape-defined protocol for securing data communications – particularly web transactions – sent across computer networks. The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol establishes a secure session by electronically authenticating the server end of any connection, and then using encryption to protect all subsequent transmissions. The Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol refers to the Internet standard replacement for SSL. Websites that are addressed by URLs that begin with https instead of http use SSL or TLS.

WEP and WPA

WEP and WPA are security protocols used to protect wireless networks. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a deprecated security protocol for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Because all wireless transmissions are susceptible to eavesdropping, WEP was introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard in 1997. It was intended to provide confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network. Since 2001, several serious weaknesses in the protocol have been identified so that today a WEP connection can be cracked within minutes. In response to these vulnerabilities, in 2003 the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that WEP had been superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). Wi-Fi Protected Access versions 1 and 2 (WPA and WPA2) refer to certification programs that test WiFi product support for newer IEEE 802.11i standard security protocols that encrypt data sent over the air, from WiFi user to WiFi router.