Wireless Analysis With Monitor Mode On Android

An anonymous reader writes "We are a group of three researches, and in the last few weeks, we have been working on Wi-Fi monitor mode for Android devices, based on Broadcom BCM4329 and BCM4330 chipsets. Currently we have a successful PoC for Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy S 2. We've released all the info in our new blog."

You Brick My Phone

[smittyoneeach]

You brick my phone
(And I'm not alone)
We'll find us time
For Amish crime [go.com]
Burma Shave

Seriously: great project. As I'm connected using a Galaxy S 2 in hotspot mode as I write this, I may need to have a go at this project.

Re:

[Beorytis]

Amish crime [go.com]

Gotta love that the defendant's name is Mullet. Did he cut the beards short in front and leave them long in back?

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

Heh.

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

Fool!
"Man, Dice got rolled."

Re:

[seandiggity]

I, for one, welcome our new dice-rolling overlords.

Re:

[arielCo]

How so? I can't find a single reference to Dice (it's a tech jobs site, right?) in TFA, and they're not selling anything. There's an overview, and they link the source+binaries for you to try (at your own risk).

Re:

[NerdmastaX]

yea im gettin away from slashdot if the monster.com equivalent for nerds just bought it.

Re:This article is plain spam.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

This article is plain spam.

Wait: an article about some guys who reverse engineered a (very common) broadcom wireless chipset to add monitor mode to a linux kernel driver(complete with source and instructions on how to brick your own phone) is 'spam'?

What is slashdot for, if not trolling and arguing about linux drivers?

Re:

[kelemvor4]

This article is plain spam.

Wait: an article about some guys who reverse engineered a (very common) broadcom wireless chipset to add monitor mode to a linux kernel driver(complete with source and instructions on how to brick your own phone) is 'spam'?

What is slashdot for, if not trolling and arguing about linux drivers?

I agree, this article = "News for Nerds."

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, this article = "News for Nerds."

Although, not quite sure if it's "Stuff that Matters".

Re:

[dave420]

I'm pretty sure one of the most popular Android devices ever getting monitor mode (and possibly injection further on down the line) matters...

Re:

[Penurious Penguin]

When I don't prefer my spam with eggs, I often prefer my spam with plain spam. Nothing wrong with spam, is there? What more could you ask for anyway? It's already an exciting 3D representation of an entire pig stuffed into a single tin, with a few elements of modern science added.

~ Plain Spam - The Number One Choice for Spam Purists Since 1970

Strengthen your passwords

[AmiMoJo]

With modern graphics cards dictionary attacks on WPA2 passwords are realistic. Since everyone carries wifi radios around with them and can gather the necessary data you should probably expect more such attacks on your network in the future.

Re:

[BlackSupra]

What is the best Wifi Encryption?

My Router offers:
* WPA(TKIP)
* WPA2(AES)
* WPA2 Mixed

Re:Strengthen your passwords

[L4t3r4lu5]

WPA2(AES) is the most secure, as long as your vendor implemented it properly.

Re:Strengthen your passwords

[spectrokid]

Use AES with a very long random gobbledigook password. Write the password down on the back of your router. from wikipedia:
Weak password Shared-key WPA remains vulnerable to password cracking attacks if users rely on a weak password or passphrase. To protect against a brute force attack, a truly random passphrase of 13 characters (selected from the set of 95 permitted characters) is probably sufficient.[12] To further protect against intrusion, the network's SSID should not match any entry in the top 1000 SSIDs[13] as downloadable rainbow tables have been pre-generated for them and a multitude of common passwords.

Re:

[DickBreath]

That is good advice. After you determine what you will use as a long cryptic password, you should set the SSID to be the same as the password to eliminate the possibility of forgetting the password. Also when guests are over, it is easy to tell them that the password is the SSID that their phone/laptop/tablet just scanned. Since the scanned SSID still has a lock icon next to it in the list of nearby WiFi routers, it is secure.

Re:

[srussia]

Use AES with a very long random gobbledigook password. Write the password down on the back of your router.

My handwriting constitutes a higher encryption level than AES-256, you insensitive clod!

Re:

[neokushan]

I would also like to know how that has any effect on the password.

Re:Strengthen your passwords

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

It doesn't help entities that are likely to be targets of directed attacks(either high value institutional targets, who ideally aren't using PSK and are rotating passwords properly, or people with psycho and/or prankster neighbors); but the easiest way to keep people out of your network, for most of us, might actually to be to give them some of what they want.

APs with multiple radios, or chipsets capable of handling multiple SSIDs with distinct security and routing rules, are increasingly common and cheap. If you broadcast an open SSID(all traffic originating from there QoS tagged as lower priority than traffic from your internal network, naturally) that dumps anybody who connects straight to the internet, no connection to the internal network or router configuration interfaces(through Tor if you are really worried about somebody's warez and/or kiddie porn pointing back to you), that removes the bulk of most people's interest in cracking your network itself...

Re:

[Yvanhoe]

I used to do that, then my government (France) declared that any act committed from my IP address was my responsibility and that if I don't protect my access, my connection can be cut. It kinda slowed me down...

Re:Strengthen your passwords

[Penurious Penguin]

It uses the aircrack suite and supports injection. I imagine if people write convenient scripts for this software, it could get pretty popular. I've never owned a smartphone and don't know what their ranges are, but if they are close to a half-height mini-PCI, then this is a pocket sized menace indeed. Throw in the Cloud, rainbow tables, mega dictionaries and so on, and you get action. I have no doubt that many people will use such an application just as a novelty (because they can) -- but others may opt for more. Of course, those who don't use common ESSIDs and use peculiar passwords along with WPA2, they should have nothing to worry about. The rest, however, should definitely start with stronger passwords.

For example, someone can crack your WEP regardless of your password; but to enter the router where the real fun can begin, they would encounter great difficulty if a strong password and unique user ID were set. Verizon figured this out some time ago [slashdot.org]. A strong password could limit an "attacker" to simply using your network. While stronger passwords are a good idea, it shouldn't be one's only recourse though.

Re:

[mjwx]

Of course, those who don't use common ESSIDs and use peculiar passwords along with WPA2, they should have nothing to worry about.

This,

The point of security is not to be uncrackable but to be so difficult and time consuming to crack that an attacker simply gives up (combined with the risk of being detected/caught). The threats to my wireless network consist almost entirely of local neighborhood script kiddies who want free internet, a 64 character randomly generated WPA2 key ensures they'll move onto softer targets before too long.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

lol google REAVER.

there is no strength that matters anymore. time is all you need.

Re:

[Penurious Penguin]

And how much time would you need to crack a password such as:
GrimTittyPat00shkinGarment
?
Time is all we have. Why squander millennia on a mediocre password? Also, it's not the weakness of passwords, but the weakness of protocols here. Install proper firmware that does not support WPS and REAVER becomes little more than aircrack. With a solid WPA2 setup on open-wrt, I'd relax and not even bother monitoring my network traffic whilst surrounded by hostile REAVER users.

Re:

[neokushan]

REAVER takes advantage of a vulnerability in the implementation of WPS in some (many?) routers. It's not the be-all and end-all, if the router is patched or simply not vulnerable, then the same rules apply.

It also doesn't (currently) work on Android.

Re:

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

"As you know, ah, you write software to go with the hardware you have---not the hardware you might want or wish to have at a later time."

Re:

[neokushan]

I don't know who you're quoting, but the random "ah" means I'm guessing it's John Carmack?
He makes lots of odd noises in his speech.

Re:

[dave420]

... and none of the decent software available on Android. I know you're all butthurt because your favourite device is laughed at for being a massive, strange, ineffective beast of a phone, but that doesn't mean you should lash out at Android devices. If you really want a pissing competition, you can just read all the things Android does which the N900 doesn't. Grow the fuck up.

Re:

[norminator]

You realize that a 1GHz ARM CPU in your phone isn't nearly as "fast" as a 1GHz x86 CPU, and that a dual core processor also doesn't actually mean it's twice as fast, right?

Re:

[MrDoh!]

You realise that these phones can send emails/ftp/ssh the dump back to your real machine(s) with high end gpus, and wait for the password to appear. right? I