I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together.
The textbook writers are clueless, and the information is out of date, even though it was printed only last year.
For my guide “How to recover WEP keys using Backtrack Linux” the test WEP-secured network took a full 8 minutes to crack and gain access to. Now, if that was a WPA-secured network it would be much more challenging. For a start you can’t gather IVs on WPA and you are limited to using a dictionary to try and crack the passwords. If the key isn’t in the dictionary – you won’t be getting in. You will also find other challenges if you Google for it.
Here’s my first update to the textbook: Always use WPA or WPA2, never use WEP, and take advantage of the fact that WPA allows you to have up to 63 characters in the passphrase.
The next point is about how hiding your SSID supposedly improves security. It actually just makes you feel good, giving you a false sense of security, but degrading the network’s performance in the process. When the Wireless Access Point makes the SSID length zero in the network advertisements, “hiding” it, it adds extra work for the network to connect, and ultimately the SSID must be transmitted unencrypted anyway in order for the network to function. Furthermore the active probing from hiding the SSID also leads to worse security, by transmitting more data that is very useful for a hacker. It’s explained in this pdf from 2003 and it’s still true now.
So: Hiding the SSID does not improve security.
The textbook’s last point is about MAC Addresses. MAC addresses are the addresses of a computer’s networking hardware or a Wireless Access Point’s (or router’s) address, and it is possible to restrict which addresses can connect to a network in most routers. The kismet program I used in my tutorial can give you a list of MAC addresses connected to an access point. In Backtrack Linux, or any Linux for that matter, you can forge a MAC address with two commands, or alternatively type it into a program like spoonwep as you hack it (refer to screenshots in the tutorial), which means that the restrictions are easily bypassed.
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to âsecure the networkâ , hiding the networkâs name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of âsecurityâ together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to âsecure the networkâ , hiding the networkâs name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of âsecurityâ together. [...]
[...] your network’s security up to scratch? I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together. [...]
[...] marketing, SEO'; hopfeed_path='http://chuck6719.hopfeed.com'; hopfeed_link_target='_blank'; I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to âsecure the networkâ , hiding the networkâs name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of âsecurityâ together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to âsecure the networkâ , hiding the networkâs name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of âsecurityâ together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to â??secure the networkâ? , hiding the networkâ??s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of â??securityâ? together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to â??secure the networkâ? , hiding the networkâ??s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of â??securityâ? together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together. [...]
[...] I was just looking through the network security part of an IT Textbook that high schools are currently using and noticed the dodgy security information it was giving. The textbook recommends using WEP encryption to “secure the network” , hiding the network’s name (SSID) and filtering MAC addresses; and goes on to explain why you should use these multiple methods of “security” together. [...]