How dangerous are vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi networks?

After exploiting the security flaw, hackers can steal and decrypt data transmitted over Wi-Fi, inserting viruses into users' devices.

WPA, the security method used in most Wi-Fi connections around the world, has been broken. According to Mathy Vanhoef, the researcher who discovered the attack technique (dubbed Krack), the problem primarily affects the Wi-Fi protocol, leaving most devices vulnerable to attack.

How does Krack break Wi-Fi security?

Krack stands for Key Reinstallation Attack, which is part of the third step of the four-way handshake. The Krack technique can also be considered a "man in the middle" attack, meaning that a "stranger" is eavesdropping on a conversation that is supposed to be confidential.

Simply put, when a user's device connects to a protected Wi-Fi network, it uses a key to "talk" to each other. Since the encryption key can be sent back and forth multiple times in the third step (of the Four-way handshake), an attacker using the Krack technique can obtain this key to decrypt the data.

Wi-Fi networks are vulnerable to hacking based on Krack attacks.

Which devices are affected?

If your device has a Wi-Fi connection, it is at risk of being exploited by the Krack technique, whether it is a phone, tablet or computer... including Android, iOS, macOS, Linux or Windows operating systems... However, the most serious are Linux and Android, because this platform does not require a new key when connecting to Wi-Fi.

What data did the hacker get?

During the conversation (between the user's device and the Wi-Fi access point), a "stranger" appears in the middle to "eavesdrop" and obtain the "key" to decode all information. Therefore, when exploiting the Krack technique, hackers can capture all transmitted traffic, including sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, messages, emails...

Not stopping there, when being able to capture traffic transmitted over the Wi-Fi network, hackers can insert viruses, ransomware into the connection, change the website to fake websites... The further consequence is that the user's device is at risk of being remotely controlled, losing all data stored on it...

Https means that the website uses an encrypted connection.

Users are still safe

It can be said that with Krack technique, hackers can decrypt encrypted Wi-Fi connections. However, hackers cannot get the Wi-Fi password. In addition, if you access via virtual private network (VPN) or access websites using Https connection (different from Http), the data is not affected.

Nowadays, many websites have applied encrypted connections (Https) that users can easily recognize because the address bar when accessing will display a green "lock" icon. Https is almost the standard for banking websites, e-commerce sites or social networks...

According to VNE