How to Hack Wi-Fi: Stealing Wi-Fi Passwords with an Evil Twin Attack

How to Hack Wi-Fi: Stealing Wi-Fi Passwords with an Evil Twin Attack

While Wi-Fi networks can be set up by smart IT people, that doesn't mean the users of the system are similarly tech-savvy. We'll demonstrate how an evil twin attack can steal Wi-Fi passwords by kicking a user off their trusted network while creating a nearly identical fake one. This forces the victim to connect to the fake network and supply the Wi-Fi password to regain internet access.


While a more technical user might spot this attack, it's surprisingly effective against those not trained to look for suspicious network activity. The reason it's so successful is that most users don't know what a real firmware update looks like, leading to confusion in recognizing that an attack is in progress.




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What Is an Evil Twin Attack


An evil twin attack is a type Wi-Fi attack that works by taking advantage of the fact that most computers and phones will only see the "name" or ESSID of a wireless network. This actually makes it very hard to distinguish between networks with the same name and same kind of encryption. In fact, many networks will have several network-extending access points all using the same name to expand access without confusing users.


If you want to see how this works, you can create a Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone and name it the same as your home network, and you'll notice it's hard to tell the difference between the two networks or your computer may simply see both as the same network. A network sniffing tool like Wigle Wifi on Android or Kismet can clearly ..

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