Wireless and Mobile Device Security, 2nd Edition

Password-Capture and Decryption Tools

When conducting any Wi-Fi network audit, it is wise to check for weak passwords. Aside from unencrypted sessions, weak passwords are often the most common and serious security threat to a network. Passwords that are easy to crack enable an eavesdropper to exploit them, perhaps gaining deep access into a network (depending on the level of the person whose password was cracked). This is especially true when dealing with default administrator passwords on network devices.

There are several tools for auditing and recovering passwords; Nessus and Aircrack-ng are two of the most popular. Nessus is particularly good at spotting default administrator passwords for web applications. Aircrack-ng is also able to crack ...