WiFi password cracker is very useful when you have forgotten the password for your WiFi connection. If you have assigned a password to your WiFi network, you need to enter it in order to connect to it.
However, there are softwares designed to secure or attack WiFi networks. Some of them help to gain access to the network password and the network itself. Others provide information about traffic on the network, which can be used to inform further attacks.
Two types of vulnerabilities can be found in wireless networks. One is poor configuration and the other is poor encryption. Poor configuration is caused by the network administrator managing the network. Weak encryption is related to the security keys used to protect the wireless network. These vulnerabilities exist due to problems with WEP or WPA.
WEP and WPA are the two main security protocols used in WiFi. WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy is a deprecated security protocol that was introduced in 1997 as part of the original 802.11 standards. However, several serious vulnerabilities were found in this very weak protocol. These vulnerabilities were such that they could be cracked in minutes.
In 2003, a new Wi-Fi security protocol was introduced. This new protocol was WiFi Protected Access (WPA). While most routers currently use WPA or WPA2, a third version called WPA3 was approved a few years ago and is designed to replace the existing protocols.
To gain unauthorized access to a wireless network, it is necessary to break these security protocols. Many tools can crack WiFi passwords. These tools can exploit WEP weaknesses and can also use brute force password guessing attacks in WPA/WPA2/WPA3.
What is WiFi Password?
A WiFi password is a security measure used to protect a WiFi network from unauthorized access. It is a string of characters required to connect to a WiFi network and access the internet.
When you try to connect to a WiFi network and you are asked for a password, you need to get it from the person or organization that set it up. The owner of the password could be your employer or your internet service provider.
If you own the WiFi network and have forgotten the password, you can find it in the manual that came with your modem or by accessing the router’s web-based configuration page. Alternatively, you may need to reset the modem to its default settings, which will restore the default password and erase any custom settings you have made. Of course, there are some WiFi password cracking softwares that you can use to crack a weak WiFi password. Below you will see some of these softwares.
Is It Ethical to Use a WiFi Password Cracker Software?
It is unethical if you are using this software to crack someone else’s WiFi password. Hacking into someone else’s WiFi network without permission is considered an illegal activity as it is an invasion of their privacy.
Accessing someone’s WiFi network without their permission can also lead to criminal prosecution. This is a violation of various cybersecurity laws and regulations. And even if you manage to access someone’s WiFi network without their permission, you may be violating other laws and regulations by using that network to engage in other illegal activities.
Instead of trying to break into someone’s WiFi network, it is always better to get permission from the owner of the network or use public WiFi networks if available. In general, it is important to respect the privacy and property of others and to act within ethical and legal standards.
The following WiFi password cracking softwares are important to identify weak passwords and take some security measures. If you are going to use these softwares to hack into a person’s WiFi network, you must accept some of the ultimate consequences.
Why Use a WiFi Password Cracker?
Here are some reasons why you might want to use a WiFi password cracking software:
- You changed your modem and forgot the password for the old network.
- You need to connect a new device such as a laptop, tablet or phone to your existing WiFi network but you don’t remember the password.
- You forgot the password for a WiFi network at a friend’s home or office that you were previously connected to.
- You reset your modem and lost the default password.
- You need to troubleshoot WiFi connection issues that require you to know the network password.
A WiFi password cracker software allows you to recover these passwords easily. It also prevents you from having to reset your modem or troubleshoot annoying network problems.
Best WiFi Password Ethical Hacking Tools
Aircrack-ng
Aircrack-ng is one of the best tools you can use for WiFi password cracking. Aircrack-ng uses the best possible algorithms to recover target WiFi passwords. Once it has enough information, it tries to recover the password, then applies a standard FMS attack to make the attack faster.
Developed to run on the Linux operating system, the software supports operating systems such as Windows, OS X, Free BSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris and eComStation 2. It also supports other wireless adapters such as VMWare and Live CD images. You don’t need a lot of know-how to use the VMWare image. But it has certain limitations. For example, it works with a small number of operating systems and supports a limited number of USB devices.
Taking all this into account, we can say that Aircrack-ng is a good WiFi password cracker.
PixieWPS
PixieWPS is one of the software developed to obtain a WiFi password. You can crack a WiFi password by following the steps below:
Run wifite2 with sudo command and kill flag. When you do this, you will enable monitoring mode and you will see a list of available networks.
sudo wifite -- kill
Check out networks where WPS = yes. These are your potential targets.
Now wait for the process to finish until you see the passwords and then press “Ctrl+C”. By pressing these keys you stop the process and a dialog box will pop up asking you to enter the number of the destination.
Check the NUM of the destination and write it to the console. In our case, this is 1. Wifite will now do the rest. If successful, wifite will reveal the cracked WPS PIN and network password.
Pyrit
Pyrit is a free and open source software that can be used to crack WiFi passwords. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux, Pyrit can crack WiFi passwords using a variety of methods including brute force attacks, dictionary attacks and exploiting vulnerabilities.
To use Pyrit to crack a WiFi password, you need to know the name of the WiFi network and the BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) of the router. The BSSID is a unique identifier for the router and can be found by running airodump-ng or iwlist. Once you have the name of the WiFi network and the BSSID, you can use Pyrit to crack a WiFi password.
To install Pyrit, open a terminal window and run the following command:
sudo apt-get install pyrit
After installing Pyrit, you can start it by running the following command:
pyrit
After launching Pyrit, you will be presented with a list. From there you have to select the relevant option to crack a WiFi password. Pyrit will then ask for the name of the WiFi network and the BSSID of the router. If you remember, we mentioned earlier that you should have this information. Now enter this information and press Enter. Pyrit will then start cracking the WiFi password. To crack the password you will need
CommView for WiFi
CommView for WiFi is a powerful wireless network monitoring and analysis tool for 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax networks. Incorporating many user-friendly features, CommView for WiFi combines performance and flexibility with ease.
Capturing every packet in the air, CommView for WiFi displays important information such as access points and stations list, node and channel statistics, signal strength, packet and network connections list, protocol distribution graphs. By providing this information, it helps you view and inspect packets, identify network problems, and troubleshoot software and hardware issues.
CommView for WiFi includes a VoIP module for in-depth analysis, recording and playback of SIP and H.323 voice communications. Packets can be decrypted using user-defined WEP or WPA/WPA2-PSK keys and are decrypted down to the lowest layer. With over 100 supported protocols, this WiFi decryption tool allows to see every detail of a captured packet using a convenient tree structure to display protocol layers and packet headers. It also provides an open interface for installing specialized decoding modules.
Kismet
Kismet is a network detector, packet sniffer and intrusion detection software for 802.11 wireless networks that sniffs 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n traffic.
This software detects and sniffs wireless network packets to determine username and password. You can use Kismet to identify hidden networks and break into connected systems.
As a result, the software allows you to detect default or unconfigured networks. It allows you to determine what level of wireless encryption should be used on any access point.
AirSnort
AirSnort is free WiFi password cracking software that captures packets and tries to decrypt keys. It does the tracking in promiscuous mode and records the packets needed to reliably decrypt the key. It is a very simple tool to use. It supports Windows and Linux platforms. It is also powerful enough to make password guesses in under 1 second.
It’s worth noting that further development and maintenance of the tool has been discontinued. However, the old version is still available for download and use. For it to work properly, you need to follow the specific installation instructions and have the drivers it needs.
Kali NetHunter WiFi
Linux is one of the most popular Linux distributions for ethical hacking purposes. The Kali NetHunter WiFi app is a popular open source Android ROM penetration testing platform.
To use Nethunter as a real WiFi hacker app, you need to launch Kali’s WiFi tool. The simple configuration process of Nethunter’s WiFi hacking app will help you overcome the issue with configuration files.
NetHunter is a real hacker app that supports Wireless 802.11 frame injection, one-click MANA Bad Access Point setups, HID keyboard (Teensy-like attacks) and USB MITM attacks. It is also built on the strong foundations of the Kali Linux distribution and toolkits.
The developers of this real hacker app designed it to run on Google’s older Nexus smartphones, older OnePlus phones and some older Samsung Galaxy phones. However, some users have found an unofficial way to install the Kali NetHunter WiFi hack password reveal app on most Android devices.
Airgeddon
One of the most exciting and new WiFi password cracking tools on our list. Airgeddon is a multi-use tool for Linux systems to monitor wireless networks.
Like the other WiFi password crackers on our list, it can change your interface mode from “Monitoring” to “Managed”. However, it can do much more than that. For example, you can perform a DoS attack over a wireless network using different methods (popular wireless networking tools such as mdk3, mdk4 and aireplay-ng). The tool can also work as a MITM “Evil Twin” wireless attack.
With full support for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands, this tool can easily capture WPA/WPA2 personal networks. Another thing that sets it apart is that it can decrypt the offline passwords it captures and then apply brute force.
Reaver
Reaver is another popular tool you can use to crack WiFi passwords. Specifically targeting WPS vulnerabilities, Reaver performs brute force attacks against WPS registrar PINs to recover the WPA/WPA2 password. Many router manufacturers turn on WPS by default, making them vulnerable to such attacks.
To get the most out of Reaver, you will need good signal strength with the right configuration. Reaver allows you to recover passwords from vulnerable routers in 4-10 hours, depending on the signal strength.
Cain & Abel
Cain & Abel is a popular WiFi password cracking tool developed to intercept network traffic and then brute force decrypt passwords using cryptanalysis attack methods.
With the program you can recover wireless network keys by analyzing routing protocols. If you are trying to learn wireless network security and WiFi password cracking, you should give this tool a try.
The last official update of this hacking tool was many years ago. The developers have stopped active development of the software because they have moved on to other solutions. But that doesn’t stop the program from still being available.
NetStumbler
NetStumbler, a free WiFi password cracker software, is only available for Windows computers. The tool can detect WiFi networks using 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards. The program doesn’t work with all wireless network cards, but you can download it to see if it will work with yours.
The program automatically starts scanning as soon as you open it and will continue to do so indefinitely. It has an interface similar to Windows Explorer. The interface has a main panel showing the currently selected router signal and a side panel showing all available networks. Simply click on a signal in the directory pane to get details of all available channels for that router.
LizardSystems
LizardSystems’ WiFi scanner is a free tool for personal use. For professional use, you have to pay, but you can take advantage of a 10-day free trial to check how it works before you pay anything.
Running on Windows operating systems, LizardSystems monitors signals from 802.11 a/b/n/g and 802.11ac routers. It detects all routers in the vicinity and as soon as it catches a router’s signal, it is listed on the main screen. It shows a line graph of live data and the signal strength of each router it detects for easy comparison of WiFi performance.
The program lists the SSID of each network it detects and the MAC address of the router. Along with this identifying information, you will see the signal strength, maximum data transfer rate, operating channel and security system for each router. You can use this link to install the software on your computer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone see what I am doing on my phone over WiFi?
Yes. The owner of the WiFi network you are connected to can see your WiFi browsing history from your smartphone that you use to browse the internet. Apart from browsing history, they can also find out what apps you are using.
What can someone do if they find out my WiFi password?
If someone gets your WiFi password, they can use your internet connection to do many things. This can range from using your data to make videos and download files to carrying out illegal activities. They can also hack into your modem and access the devices connected to it.
Can someone steal my passwords over public WiFi?
The short answer is yes; you can be hacked over public WiFi. Cyber attackers have most of the technical know-how to sneak into unsecured networks and steal sensitive information. They can intercept your passwords, bank details or personal data that can be used for identity theft.