Hacking wireless

WIRELESS NETWORKS

Wireless links are pretty fascinating because lately there are so many wireless choices. IEEE802.16m offers speed of 1Gbps for stationary and 100Mbps for mobile devices.

Wireless is not encrypted by default.

Since it travels through the air, it is super easy to intercept it: Wireless Wireshark, aircrack, AirSnort, Auditor Security Collection, weplab, WEPCrack and many other (free) programs

To the rescue: Wireless Intrusion Detection System (WIDS).

Tradeoff is speed vs security. Most wireless has relatively weak security that is really fast, and change keys frequently. 

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) protocol was Added to IEEE 802.11 in 1999, hacked in 2001. It uses 64- or 128- or 256-bit RC4 encryption. Issues:

·         AP and all its clients share the same key … !

·         strength of the algorithm is linearly proportional to the key length

WEP is very Insecure (i.e. useless); FBI cracked it in 3 minutes

WEP can be brute-force broken in 1-2 hrs.

WPA (Wi-FI Protected Access) Protocol  Replaced WEP in 2003. It implements most of IEEE802.11i. WPA uses data encryption. It uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol), and TKIP provides 128-bit per-packet key mixing with re-keying, and MIC

WPA Enterprise provides RADIUS based authentication using TKIP IEEE 802.1x/ EAP.

WPA Personal uses a pre-shared Shared Key (PSK) with 8 to 63 character passphrase. Good/long passwords (still) cannot be easily broken?

WPA2 replaced WPA. WPA2 is specified in 802.11i amendment to IEEE 802.11 in 2004.

WPA2 = WPA + mandatory AES–CCMP

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric block cipher, key length is 128bits, block size  is 128bits. Counter-Mode/CBC-MAC Protocol (CCMP) – provides additional protection plus MIC

Just like WPA, WPA2 supports EAP authentication using RADIUS servers and preshared key (PSK)

WPA2 requires installing new hardware: either AES-WRAP (an early version of 802.11i) or the newer and better AES-CCMP. Those hardware standards are not compatible.

WPA2 also comes in personal and enterprise version, just like WPA.

Unlike WPA, WPA2 is still considered secure. Although there are talks about WPA3, it has not come out yet.

Here are some wireless terms and overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards

https://www.cites.illinois.edu/wireless/speed.html

• Downlink is the throughput from the base station to the user handset or computer.
• Uplink is the throughput from the user handset or computer to the base station.
• Range is the maximum range possible to receive data at 25% of the typical rate.

So what can you hack into? Here are some wireless networks:

Wireless link:              Frequency:                 Speed:             Range:

WiFi (IEEE 802.11 b)    2.4-2.485GHz              ≤ 11Mbps                    LAN

                                    this frequency collides with cell phones and microwave owens

IEEE 802.11 a              5.1-5.8 GHz                 ≤ 54Mbps

IEEE 802.11 g              2.4-2.485 GHz             “     “          “

IEEE 802.11 n, i

Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1)       2.4GHz                         ≤ 24Mbps                    max 100m

WiMax (IEEE 802.16)              2-66 GHz                                 ≤ 30Mbps                    Long Haul

                                                                                                                                                                                                            (≤ 30 miles)

Mobile WiMax (IEEE 802.16e-2005)  20MHz 128Mpbs downlink, 56Mbps uplink. Called “4G” by Sprint Nextel.

IEEE802.16m                                                   1Gbps for stationary

                                                                        100Mbps for mobile

Cellular phone network (GSM, COMA)         

4G                                                                    ≥ 1 Gbps when stationary

                                                                        ≥ 100 Mbps when mobile      

3G                                                                    ≥ 2 Mbps when stationary

                                                                        ≥ 284 Kbps in a moving vehicle

Satellites

http://www.intelsat.com/resources/satellite-basics/

Various Uses of Satellite Communications:

Traditional Telecommunications

Cellular

Television Signals

Marine Communications

Spacebourne Land Mobile

Satellite Messaging for Commercial Jets

Global Positioning Services

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question606.htm