If you’re trying to use the internet but you’ve got no data, then you’ll need to connect to a wireless network. However, not everyone has access to wifi at their home or when they’re out in public.
One way that you can get access to a wifi router is by hacking into it and getting its password. Doing this you can gain access to the internet, but you have to know how to do it properly. But how exactly do you do this? Well, let’s look at how it can be done.
How to Hack Wifi Passwords
If you’re trying to hack into a wifi network, then you’ll need to be able to gain access to its password. The best way for you to do this if you haven’t accessed this network before is by using a cracking software, like Cain and Abel. This can help you gain access to another wifi network by cracking their password hashes.
However, if you’ve already accessed a wifi network before, then this is going to be much easier for you. So, let’s start with how to find the password of a wifi router that you’ve already logged into before. Then, we’ll look at hacking into a router you’ve not accessed before.
How to Hack Wifi You’ve Already Signed Into
If you’ve already signed into a wifi router in the past, then this is going to make it much easier for you to hack into the network again. This is because you can see the wifi password by simply using the command function.
The first thing that you’re going to want to do is to get the wifi password from your past connections. This can allow you to log into the wifi very easily, just by entering the name or SSID of the router.
If you’re on a Mac, then you’ll want to go ahead and open Terminal. You can do this via the Finder. Then, all you’ll want to do is enter this into terminal;
Replacing the XXXXX with your Wifi name, the SSID. Then, you’ll be asked to enter your Mac’s Admin details. From the data that this brings up, you should be able to find the wifi password in there.
As you’ve probably guessed, you can also down this on a Windows device too, even Windows 10. You do need to enter something slightly different, however.
Again, you need to replace the X’s with the routers SSID. But, this is the easiest way for you to hack into a wifi connection that you’ve already have access to in the past. However, this won’t work for a router that you’ve not accessed before.
Resetting the Password
Another way that you can actually get the wifi password for a router that you’ve already signed in to is by simply resetting the password when you’re logged in. Not everyone knows this, but if you’re already logged into the wifi, then you don’t need to know the password to reset it.
It isn’t like a Netflix account, where you need to know the password in order for you to be able to reset it again. You should be able to change the username and password of your router by simply being logged in to your device.
Changing your MAC Address
If you’re just trying to get onto a local wifi network without having to put a whole lot of effort in, then you could consider changing your MAC address to do this. Your MAC address is simply the serial number of your device, and this is how a private network may be able to stop you accessing it.
The easiest way for you to change a MAC address is in Kali Linux, as you can just use macchanger, which is an easy to use command within that operating system. You can also do this pretty easily within Windows too, but you’ll need to find an app that can help you do this – personally I’d recommend checking out Technitium.
How to Hack Wifi You’ve Never Signed Into Before
Hacking into a wifi router that you’ve not had access to before is significantly more difficult, but it’s not impossible. There are a few ways you can do this. The main way that most people will trying to get into a wifi network is by cracking it.
Generally, we just used the word cracking to mean getting past or defeating the wireless networks security.
Cracking the Wifi Network
Essentially, cracking into a wifi network isn’t easy, and the best way for you to actually do this is to use a cracking software. To do this, you’ll need to follow a few steps first;
If you’ve got everything above in order, you’ll then need to download a hacking software and follow their instructions.
There are many different cracking softwares out there that you can use, and some of them will not work (they can cause more harm to your own computer than actually help you out). Here are a few of the good ones.
Cain and Abel – For Windows
If you’re looking for a tool for Windows, then Cain and Abel is going to be one of the best softwares out there you can try. You can use it for hacking far more than a wifi password, so it definitely has the capabilities of something simple like this.
Once you’ve downloaded the software (you can find it pretty much anywhere online), you’ll need to use the cracker function of Cain to get router password.
You’ll easily be able to see whether the password has more or less than 8 characters without even doing anything, but you’ll need to do a bit more than this to get the full password.
But overall, Cain is one of the best softwares out there for hacking a wifi password. If you’re on a Windows device, this is your best bet. You might find it online shortened to just Cain, which is just the same thing. It’s probably the best way to gain access to a wi-fi network.
Aircrack-ng – For Anything (mainly Linux)
If you’ve used Kali Linux before, then you’ll likely know what Aircrack-ng is. If you’re not sure what Kali Linux is, then essentially it’s just a distribution that runs on the Linux OS. You can easily download Linux on a Windows or Mac laptop, and if you’re interested in programming in general, then you should probably download Linux anyway.
Back to Aircrack-ng. It’s a tool we use that’s actually specifically designed for assessing wifi security, so it’s definitely up to the task. It uses a Fluhrer, Mantin and Shamir attack to try and crack the key of your password, and it’s another good way to find out what the wifi password is.
An FMS is a form of stream cipher attack, and you need to know what you’re doing to use it properly and gain access to a wi-fi network. This tool can be used for both WEP and WPA-PSK security protocols, though it uses a more standard dictionary attack for the latter.
WiFi WPS WPA Tester – For Mobile
If you’re looking to try and crack a wifi password with your mobile phone, then you’ll want to check out the WiFi WPS WPA Tester, which you can download easily in the Google Play store. It’s not as comprehensive as the previously mentioned tools as you’d expect, but it’s definitely still possible to hack a wifi password this way.
For this app to be truly useful, you’re going to need an Android phone that’s already been rooted. This way, you’ll get far more options within the app itself to try and gain access to wifi.
So, by using one of these different cracking softwares, you can then gain access to the wifi network’s password, and connect to it yourself.
Related Reading:
Brute Force vs Dictionary Attacks
One of the most common questions around hacking is the difference between the different types of hacking out there, and whether a particular style is better for ethical hacking.
Essentially, when we’re trying to break into a wifi network, then we’re going to be using a brute force attack. This is the most common method for hacking into someones wifi, as you’ll try a number of different passwords with simple trial and error.
These types of passwords (WPA, WPA2) are a little difficult to be brute forced, because they have to be at least 8 characters long. The shorter the password, the easier it is to get into a network with wi-fi protected access.
A dictionary attack is a little different, because you actually use a known list of common words and phrases which the password could be. This list of words can make it easier and quicker to decipher exactly what the password is.
Conclusion
All in all, it isn’t easy to hack into the majority of wifi networks. Whilst it is possible, of course you should only have the utmost intentions for hacking into a wifi connection. If you get caught hacking into wifi that isn’t yours, then you could end up in trouble.
On a related note, you might be interested in a tool called mSpy that can monitor wifi networks (HERE) on Android and iOS devices (they also have keyloggers (HERE) and all sorts of other hacking tools).
A WEP (wired equivalent privacy) security setup is the least secure, and should generally be much easier for you to access than a WPA setup. Though if you download the correct software, you should be able to hack into a variety of different wireless networks.
