I've recently been wanting to get a more in dept understanding of computer networks/security. So i'm in the process of actually setting up a wireless home network, so i can break the encryption legally from my laptop.

I already have a built-in wireless adapter for my laptop, and assuming that will work perfectly fine.

I have done a little bit of research and i have decided to go with linux for this type of thing. I currently have ubuntu installed on my laptop, but i have heard of a distro by the name of backtrack, which has all the tools packed with this distro for this type of thing. Am i correct there?..I'm also going to run it as live cd (i'm currently reading the backtrack website to find out more)

What tools would i need to break wep, wpa and wpa2 security?..I know wep and wpa are crackable, but not too sure on wpa2. However, i'm going to start with the lowest which will be wep, then move on up.

Also, there is a user here called isit wargsm?..something like that. But i did once see him saying he would walk people thru this sort of thing. Or if anybody else is willing to help, i'd be grateful.

I think i'm on the right path, correct me if i'm going the wrong way about it.

Nope, you're basically on the right path. Backtrack will be a bit easier to use than Ubuntu, because you'd have to patch the drivers on Ubuntu yourself. WEP is easily crackable (~15 minutes with a decent amount of IV's), WPA and WPA2 are just dictionary attacks, IIRC.

Good idea. I'm gonna setup a wireless network and start practicing too. I didn't know WEP was that easy to crack.

Wep is a joke to crack, you just need to have decent signal strength and not look suspicious loitering for an hour or so depending on how strong it really is.

When you say loitering do you mean actually hanging around somewhere within range of the network with your laptop? Well obviously you'd be sitting in a car but that sounds pretty crazy too.

I used to do crazy shit like try to get as close as I could for as long as I could with my laptop in my bag, but that got old.

Yes, and I've met a few zealous network admins that way. Just don't look suspicious as you're doing it. As with the car, make sure there are other ones around. If you're the only one in the area and they see a guy with a laptop for a long time, you can expect the police to show up.

As always, the answer is freedom.

Hello villageillness,

BackTrack 3 is an excellent starter kit for learning about wireless security, intrusion, and penetration testing. I'm not familiar with the current list of tools included in the latest version, but I can tell you the community is a great resource for knowledge. Check out #remote-exploit on FreeNode.

In a normal penetration testing project, I usually start with a set of custom tools with Kismet, Aircrack, Wireshark, and Nmap independent of the nature of the target and goal.

I highly recommend you check out the tools and documentation with BackTrack and PHLAK until you're familiar enough to invest some time and thought into developing your own security livecd. A great place to start when you get to that point is with Knoppix, and I believe there are network security fork projects already in progress with it alone.

Keep in mind that it is never a good idea to perform any kind of illegal activity. Most network administrators are willing to allow you to perform scanning and testing on their networks with permission in agreement that you in turn, respect the property and inform them of any insecurities.