You think your wireless network is secure because you use encryption WPA2 instead of WEP; Think again.
Almost everyone in technology has read one or more articles about how hackers gain access to wireless networks that use Wired Equivalent encryption. Privacy (WEP). Αυτά είναι τα παλιά νέα. Εάν εξακολουθείτε να χρησιμοποιείτε WEP, ίσως είναι καλύτερο να δώσετε στους hackers και ένα κλειδί για το σπίτι σας, ή ακόμα καλύτερα να ανοίξετε το Wi-Fi σας και να το αφήσετε ελεύθερο για όλους. Οι περισσότεροι γνωρίζουν ότι η κρυπτογράφηση WEP μπορεί να παραβιαστεί σε δευτερόλεπτα.
So most of you have read or heard advice from security geeks about using Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) encryption as a means of protection of your wireless network. WPA2 is the latest and strongest wireless encryption method currently available.
You should know that hackers who tried to break the WPA2 shell have done it (to a degree).
To be clear, hackers managed to crack WPA2-PSK (Pre Shared Key), which is mostly used by most people at home and in small businesses. WPA2-Enterprise encryption, used in large enterprises, has much more complex settings that include the use of a server control RADIUS identity. This protection is still the most secure wireless protection. WPA2-Enterprise is not cracked yet.
But if WPA2 was the best way to protect a wireless home network what now?
Do not panic, there are still ways to protect your network using WPA2-PSK. This will prevent most hackers from breaking your encryption and gaining access to your network.
But before we get there, let's look at some explanations.
Hackers have managed to break WPA2-PSK encryption for two reasons:
1. Many users create weak Pre-Shared Keys (codewireless network access)
On the setup web page there is the point where you configure wireless access and the use of WPA2-PSK encryption. There you will need to generate a Pre-Shared Key. Many people use an easy Pre-Shared Key, because they will have to type it into every device that uses Wi-Fi to connect to their wireless network. They may also choose to have a simple code, because usually friends ask who is the Password για να συνδέσουν κάποια συσκευή τους. Αν ο κωδικός σας είναι σικ “Mywifirocks” αλλά δεν είναι περίπλοκος είναι πολύ εύκολο να σπάσει.
Hackers can crack down on Pre-Shared Keys by using brute-force or Rainbow Tables in a very short space of time. All they have to do is catch the SSID (wireless network name) handshake, between the authorized wireless client and the router, and then get all the information they need to process them with their tools.
2. Most use default or common wireless network names (SSIDs)
In your router's web setup you can change your network name. Too many leave the default SSID on their router, that's what the manufacturer has set.
The hackers have lists with the most common SSIDs to create Password cracking Rainbow Tables. So they can break Pre-Shared Keys on networks that use common SSIDs quickly and easily.
Note: Even if your network name is not on the list they can still create Password cracking Rainbow Tables for a specific network name, but it will take a lot more time and system resources.
What can you do to make your wireless network using WPA2-PSK safer?
The Brute-force and Rainbow Table tools have their limitations. The larger the Pre-Shared Key, the harder it is to break. The computational power and hard disk capacity required to break large Pre-Shared Keys is enormous and virtually impossible to produce from common machines, (we always say almost because nobody knows what machines the hacker uses)
However difficult it is to enter a 30 character password on every wireless device you want to use on your network, you will usually only need to do it once.
WPA2-PSK encryption supports Pre-Shared Keys up to 63 characters.
Make sure the SSID (wireless network name) is as random as possible
You can make sure that your SSID is not on the list of the top 1000 most common SSIDs as mentioned earlier. This will prevent you from becoming an easy target for hackers who already have a pre-built Rainbow Table for breaking networks with shared SSIDs. Use a random and large network name, as you did with the password. The maximum length for an SSID is 32 characters.
Combining the two above changes will make your wireless network much harder for hackers. Hopefully most hackers will leave and look for something easier, such as your neighbor's wireless network, who still uses WEP.
