Internet is the basic necessity of the digital era, nothing much can be done with the prospects of the internet removed from the equation. Even a simple browsing search requires an active internet connection to do so and we are not even bringing the financial transactions, revolving of content, and many other factors into the account.
As important as the internet is its safety is a big hole in the face of the adversity, Wi-Fi connections, LAN networks, and whatnot are at the brink of being breached or worse yet exploited in so many ways that even the user data and financial records can’t escape this rabbit hole. Hacking attempts are real, these are taking place as we speak but the wireless networks are more susceptible or prone to hacking. In this modern age, wireless networks are everywhere, everyone has got Wi-Fi working for them in the office, in the home and where else. But still, these can be hacked by a person who specifically knows what they are doing, someone who is at the top of their game.
As important as it is to keep your identity secure on the internet and implementing various security systems for the sake of maintaining the integrity of your connection to the internet, you must be aware of the various hacking tools that are out there to get you. Following is a list that you can relate, to begin with;
- Aircrack
It is one of the most popular wireless password cracking tools out there that you can use for cracking WPA, WEP, and 802.11a/b/g systems. Aircrack seems to have the best algorithms to recover the wireless passwords by capturing internet packets. Once enough packets are retrieved it will then try to recover the passwords on its own. But isn't it going to take a long time to do so? Yes, it is, but the Aircrack would at the same time implement a standard FMS attack with some over the top optimizations that can verily speed up things.
The company that is in charge of the development and distribution of this tool also has an online tutorial that can help you learn all there is to cracking wireless passwords using the Aircrack.
- AirSnort
AirSnort is another tool there is that can be used for the sake of decrypting the WEP based encryptions on the 802.11b channel. It doesn't matter if you are using Windows or Linux because this tool can be installed on both of them and be ready for use. No company or enterprise now lay claim to its maintenance any longer but it still can be downloaded from the Sourceforge. AirSnort, once it has received enough packets would start passively monitoring transmissions and then computing the encryption keys.
It is an incredibly simple tool to use and once you have installed this tool you can use it to crack various types of WEP passwords.
- Cain and Able
Cain and Able is another free password cracking software that is available for download. It works by intercepting the network traffic and then discovering the favorable passwords by using the brute force system that incorporates various passwords onto the networking packets by using the cryptanalysis attack methods. Routing protocols can also be closely analyzed using this tool to recover the wireless network keys.
- Kismet
It is not as much as a wireless cracking tool then it is a Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n layer 2 wireless network sniffer and intrusion detection system. It can work great with any Wi-Fi card that can support the rfmon mode. Even the hidden networks can’t run out of its reaching grip, it can easily identify networks and then detect the hidden networks if there are any. It is built on the client/server modular architecture. It can be used for Linux, Windows, and various other dedicated systems.
- NetStumbler
It is a popular Windows tool that is used to find out wireless access points. Not only is this tool free but it can be used with Windows without the need of installing anything extra. It basically helps in verifying network configurations, finding the locations that have a poor network, detecting the unauthorized access points, and unveiling potentially easy networks that can be cracked without any added trouble. But if a network has an intrusion software in place then it can easily unearth what is going on and block the activity of NetStumbler completely. Another disadvantage of this tool is that it can’t work very well with the 64 bit Windows infrastructure.
- inSSIDer
Initially, this tool was open-source which is that it was free for anyone to use or execute network systems right and left. But now it is paid and can be used as a Wi-Fi scanner for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and various other operating systems out there. It can help in the completion of various tasks including the scanning of the open Wi-Fi access points, tracking the overall strength of the signals, and saving the logs with GPS records.
- WireShark
It is a network protocol analyzer and will allow you to check whatever is happening within your network. It can help you in the capturing of packets and then checking that data at the micro-level. It can easily run on Windows, Linux, OS X, and various other operating systems present out there. You must have good knowledge of the network protocols in order to be able to analyze the data, otherwise, this tool is of no use to you whatsoever.
- Airjack
Airjack is a Wi-Fi 802.11 packet injection tool, this tool can be used in bringing down the whole network by denial of the service attack by forging injection packets. Also, it is an amazing Wi-Fi cracking delight that can be used to bring about a man in the middle attack in the network.
- OmniPeek
It is another packet sniffer and network analyzer tool that can be used for the sake of collecting different packets and then brute-forcing them to reveal the sensitive wireless information. It would support any and all Windows operating systems both new and old included. But you must have a strong knowledge of protocols to be able to use this tool in a fine manner. It would work with almost all of the network interface cards that are available in the market out there. The main feature of this tool is that it is used for network troubleshooting, various plugins are already available with the download copy of this tool to increase its features and overall performance.
- CloudCracker
CloudCracker is an online password cracking tool that can be used for cracking the safety passwords for various Wireless networks out there. It can even help you in cracking the WPA protected Wi-Fi networks as well. Different password hashes can also be cracked with the help of this tool. This tool is known to have an immense dictionary of the word to be able to perform these attacks on a consistent basis until it has finally cracked open the network security key.
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