Hacking Wi-Fi for Beginners - Red Rock III

Title: Hacking Wi-Fi for Beginners

Instructor: Alex Hammer & Penelope 'Pip' Pinkerton

Abstract: Wi-Fi attack capability is an important part of any hacker's toolbox. Wi-Fi extends the perimeter of a supposedly-secure network to sidewalks, parking lots, and trendy coffee shops. But many hackers don't know how Wi-Fi is simultaneously both easy and difficult to attack. To understand this duality, hackers must get hands-on time attacking all kinds of networks. You really need to see both success and failure, both self-inflicted and environmental, to fully understand how to compromise Wi-Fi networks.

This workshop isn't targeted at Faraday-level attendees. We assume that you know what a laptop and Wi-Fi is and continue from there. What you'll be doing in this workshop is:

0. Determining your desired result of the attack
1. Reconnoitering Wi-Fi networks and RF spectrum
2. Identifying and prioritizing network and station targets
3. Determining the best attack type for identified targets
4. Hacking the bejeezus out of the target while avoiding detection

You'll do all of these amazing things with your laptop and Kali Linux. Kali has an exceptional set of Wi-Fi hacking tools built right in that you'll become much more familiar with during this session. You'll use a variety of tools to identify networks and connected stations, conduct broadcast denial of service attacks, capture authentication handshakes, and crack session keys.

Pip and Alex will demonstrate some techniques using different hardware like spectrum analyzers and noise generators so you can decide whether those are tools you want to add to your toolbox as well. However, none of those tools are necessary for the workshop, and many hackers never need anything beyond a laptop, Kali, a good wordlist, and practice.

We’ll tweet any last minute workshop updates or preparation steps from @alexhammeratt.

Level: Beginner

Pre-Requisites: Basic familiarity with Kali Linux and a basic understanding of Wi-Fi

Required Materials: A laptop running Kali Linux (NO virtual machines) and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports monitor mode (either a built-in or external USB WNIC is fine). Attendees should arrive with their laptop fully charged and their Kali fully updated.