KRACK Vulnerability
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Disclaimer: This page is specifically written to help members with limited technical knowledge or experience understand the most relevant aspects of this topic for them. We include some helpful links below for further study.
What is KRACK?
- KRACKs stands for Key Reinstallation Attacks and describes attacks on Wi-Fi networks using weaknesses in WPA2 protocol which secures most modern protected Wi-Fi networks.
- KRACKs allows attacker to read and access information on your wifi network that was considered secured.
- Wi-Fi networks use a password through WPA2 for 2 general purposes:
- Control who can connect to the network; and
- Encrypt (or conceal) the data shared over the network between the access point (Modem or Router) and clients (computers, phones, tablets, etc). Encryption is done by the Wi-Fi password to generate an even stronger key that is used to scramble the data between the access point and client.
Why should I care?
- Wi-Fi is widely used and WPA2 is presently the most for securing Wi-Fi connections included modems configured by NCF.
- Variations of KRACK can be used against clients of various kinds including devices running Android, Apple OSes, Windows, Linux and may others.
Important Things to Note:
- Vulnerability vs Infection: Most devices having a vulnerability to a particular attack does not mean that you device are already affected or even at a high risk of infection. Follow the recommendations below to guard against this vulnerability.
- Proximity: An attacker needs to be within wireless range of your network that (close enough to connect to your wifi).
- Time: This attack works during the periods of connection and reconnection of your client device to a wifi network. As such, an attacker has a very limited time window in which to try employing this attack (usually a few seconds).
What should I do?
How can I learn more?