CEH v13: Hacking Wireless Networks
Table of Contents
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Hacking Wireless Networks targets Wi-Fi in the EC-Council CEH v13 course. This module covers wireless encryption, handshake capture, rogue access points, Bluetooth attacks, and modern defenses. Test only wireless networks you own or are authorized to assess.
Wireless removes the physical barrier of a cable, so anyone in range receives the signal. The encryption standard decides how hard the traffic is to break.
Wireless Encryption Standards
| Standard | Strength |
|---|---|
| WEP | Broken, cracks in minutes |
| WPA | Weak, deprecated |
| WPA2 | Strong, but vulnerable to offline cracking |
| WPA3 | Current, resists offline attacks |
Capturing and Cracking WPA2
WPA2-Personal cracking captures the four-way handshake, then attacks it offline.
# Capture the handshake, then crack it with a wordlist
airodump-ng wlan0mon --bssid AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF -c 6 -w cap
aircrack-ng cap-01.cap -w rockyou.txt
You force a client to reconnect with a deauthentication frame, capture the handshake, and run a dictionary attack offline. A strong passphrase defeats this, so weak Wi-Fi passwords are the real flaw.
Rogue APs and Client Attacks
You attack clients, not just the network.
- An evil twin mimics a legitimate SSID so victims connect to you.
- A rogue access point plugs an unauthorized AP into the network.
- A KARMA attack answers a device’s probe requests to lure it onto a fake network.
Bluetooth Threats
Short-range radios carry their own risks.
- Bluejacking sends unsolicited messages.
- Bluesnarfing steals data from a paired device.
- BlueBorne exploits Bluetooth stack flaws without pairing.
Defenses
You harden wireless with strong standards and monitoring.
- Use WPA3 or WPA2-Enterprise with certificate-based authentication.
- Set a long, random passphrase, as covered in how to create strong passwords .
- Run rogue AP detection and segment guest traffic. Compare consumer gear in best Wi-Fi mesh systems .
Next Steps
Move to handheld targets in Hacking Mobile Platforms . Revisit injection attacks in SQL Injection . Return to the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v13) Course .
