[align=center]Wireless Hacking Information ...for any noobs
This is my own work, If it appears elsewhere it is because I have put it there. Reader's have no authorisation without prior consent from me, to copy any of my work.[/align]


.::What am I trying to achieve doing this thread??
Well sometimes everyday on numerous sites there are questions being asked over and over, all along the same lines as one another. Hopefully this thread will somewhat answer these questions for you and help along your path of learning Network/Wireless hacking/security. I believe myself that wireless hacking is better off done within a linux environment. You can only go so far within windows, I learnt this a while ago. I could list hundreds of tools here but it would not prove useful. The first thing I quickly learned when getting into hacking was to take my time, because when I saw a page full of tools I would download the whole lot and find myself at a loss for what they did and probably infected. My best advice is find tutorials, learn and perfect them inside out then explore your new found knowledge. Come up with new ways of doing things and someday soon we will be seeing your tutorials around the net.

.::What do you need to hack wireless networks?
Well this is a question that used to get asked alot before people got on the offensive about people asking lol. If you look at a video done by me to demo a tut I did then you will see you don't need top spec hardware for alot of things you'll do.

Realistically what do you need?
Software:
- Backtrack 4/Linux Distro - You can hack in windows but what is it seriously costing you to download Backtrack or linux and put it on a disc? Makes your life alot easier as lots of the tutorials for wireless hacking are based in linux.
- You will need specific tools for individual tasks, check out the tools you will need in the tutorials [tut's] you are learning from.

Hardware:
- Desktop/Laptop - doesn't need to be particularly high spec but able to complete above the normal simple tasks. Netbooks and ancient laptops have been known to run/complete wireless hacking tasks.
- Packet Injection supported Wireless Card/USB adapter - This is a much debated subject I'll answer later.

.::Am I going to get caught?
How many times this get's asked really annoys me. Sorry guys little rant over, this has two factor's. One you can control and the other you can have a certain amount of influence on. What are they you ask?
- How smart you are... - controlled by you learning more!
- How smart the Network Admin is! - influenced by your selection of networks to hack. Associate people you know in the neighbourhood with wireless networks and their skill level with computer's/IT in general.

Thats the level of complexity of this question, controversially I will say hacking has and always will be a case of who knows the most (the hacker trying to get in and the person trying to prevent you from doing so). You need to know a certain amount. Before attempting things in the real world you need to know how to protect youself, and to do this you need to know the basics of how a network admin would find out who you are. When it comes to wireless security hacking the person next door is usually quite easy when you learn a few tricks. Hacking large corporate networks is a bit more advanced also depending on what you want to do when "your in".

General do's and dont's for staying anonymous:
- Don't run up high net bill's
- Don't change obvious settings on the connection e.g. blocking access to other devices on the network.
- Do follow my below advice for you're relevant Operating System.
- Just in general don't give the admin any reason for suspicion. Normally everyday joe public will not check every connected device to their network. So don't give them reason to.

note - MAC address is a hardcoded serial number on every wireless device. It identifies your interface with you. We use a method called MAC spoofing to disguise this serial number when we connect to networks as when you normally connect your MAC address is visible/logged within the router's software or any thurd-party software the Net-Admin has installed. On Windows SMAC is the ideal choice of software and in Linux try Macchanger. For the below instructions if you do not use Backtrack you will need to install macchanger and aircrack suite using sudo apt-get install macchanger aircrack-ng

On linux:
[spoiler]- Use macchanger to spoof your MAC address.


wlan0 being your wireless interface and XX:XX etc being the MAC you want to show up.
-Also look at using a VPN, Tor is a good one.[/spoiler]

On Windows:
[spoiler]- Use SMAC to spoof your MAC address..
I'm going to provide a SMAC 2.0 pro download link and serial when I find it in my HDD's
- Use a VPN again/Proxies[/spoiler]

[**HOT TIP**] In both cases if you want to use a network, use a network that is OPEN if you can, or lowest encryption possible. People with low encryption networks 9/10 times won't have a clue. Also if you do happen to attract unwanted attention the police will just say to the owners... well it could have been anyone because your network isn't secured properly. Think of it this way... if you suddenly start cracking WPA & WPA2 networks in the area and start drawing attention then you're going to alert the police there's a network cracker in the area. Then expect coppers knocking on doors.[/**HOT TIP**]

.::Consequences?
If you get onto a network illegally whether it's at home, school or a large corporation it is illegal. If you think that you hacking friendly neighbour #1 and have nothing to worry about then think more carefully. If he turns out to be a IT tech or someone who is well connected... you could be in for a tough time unless you protected youself like I discussed. Hacking is on the whole all relative, You hack a wireless network, your not going to be on the countries top 10 most wanted, however it is still illegal. No two ways about it, it is against the law [just wanted to clear that up]. However if you hack a bank's wireless network or whatever (I can't see the need for a bank to have a wireless network but you get the picture) then police/Fed's/Interpol and whatever other agency's the government's come up with will devote more time to catching you! If you steal gran's router password then don't worry, you're safe. [Do not call me or msg me from prison saying you've got some guy called tito wanting to play and it's my fault because I said you won't get done for hacking!!] lol Anyway i'm sure you can get the picture. More serious/big/damage-caused-to the network the more efforts devoted to catching the person breaching the network.

.::Which wireless card to pick?:
Without doubt my best advice is check out the Alfa AWUS036H 1000mw. You can buy more portable adapters but this is a great piece of kit and well worth the money. However I suppose it's more a case of how much you want wireless hacking to be a part of your life. If you're going to be devoting time to learning then top equipment is a must, however for beginners there are cheaper alternatives available. Check out the compatible hardware list on the Backtrack-Linux.org forums.

.::Download Section:
Backtrack 4 Final - Backtrack has long been established as the best linux distribution for the sole purpose of Penetration Testing/Hacking. Where-as using a normal desktop configuration you would have to download each individual tool and then configure it Backtrack solves this by having the lot built in. Having said that, Some people only using for example Aircrack suite for WEP/WPA cracking will use a normal desktop distro and then install the software to suit their needs. Backtrack is by nature what is known as a Live-CD, which means it does not install itself to your pc, just runs from the disc. You can however install it to USB media or your hard drive if you wish. To install to USB check out the tutorial on Backtrack-Linux.org.
Download HERE