{"id":80784,"date":"2017-10-17T12:08:54","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T19:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=80784"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:06:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:06:51","slug":"krack-threatens-wi-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/krack-threatens-wi-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"KRACK Hack Threatens Wi-Fi Security \u2013 What it Means for You"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you grew up before, or even during the 90s, you were familiar with a world of cords. A cord for the telephone, a cord for the CD player and a cord \u2014 of course \u2014 for the internet. But around the late 80s and early 90s, things started to change. Cashier systems gained a new feature called WaveLAN. By 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance was formed and the standard for the vast majority of our communications today was firmly established.<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi<\/a> is easily the defining feature of our modern society. Wi-Fi is advertised in caf\u00e9s, and friends share login passwords far too often<\/a>. One of the reasons why Wi-Fi has grown so much in use \u2014 other than its massive convenience \u2014 is that it can be relatively secure thanks to two common features called \u201cWi-Fi Protected Access\u201d and \u201cWi-Fi Protected Access II.\u201d In a nutshell, it established the standard use of security protocols that massively increased the security around data packets and their transmission over wireless networks. The end result are secure Wi-Fi networks relatively free of eavesdroppers.<\/p>\n

That is, until today. Cybersecurity researchers have developed a proof-of-concept attack \u2014 named KRACK \u2014 enabling theoretical baddies to intercept and decipher data, including passwords and messages, that should not be decipherable. It gets worse.\u00a0According to\u00a0Ars Technica<\/span><\/a>, which broke the story late on Sunday, these theoretical baddies could also \u201cinject ransomware or other malicious content into a website<\/strong>.\u201d Meaning, a trusted website could appear to be offering a link or advertisement, which actually leads to malware or other malicious content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because this vulnerability deals with Wi-Fi standards, almost every device is vulnerable. But, given the proof-of-concept attack can only succeed under particular conditions, some caveats are in order.\u00a0 (As a note, \u201cproof-of-concept attack\u201d is an industry term signifying this particular vulnerability was first discovered and tested in academic and-or industrial research environments and that no cybercriminal has used it to anyone\u2019s knowledge thus far.)<\/p>\n

First, we need to understand this attack affects the WPA2 Wi-Fi network standard<\/strong>, which is the more advanced version of WPA. Second, we also need to understand it exploits vulnerabilities in a \u201cfour-way handshake.\u201d It\u2019s complicated concept, but, in a nutshell, it ensures every device is what it says, through the use of specific keys that are shared through handshakes. It\u2019s as if you were trying to get into a secret society but had to know four different secret handshakes in order to get through the door.<\/p>\n

The problem with KRACK is that it essentially tricks its victims \u2014 in this case, computers, not users \u2014 into reinstalling a new, but already-in-use, key. It appears to send a signal to reset seemingly random figures to those that the attacker knows. By doing so, the attacker can infiltrate the club (in this analogy, your network).<\/p>\n

Now, for those caveats I mentioned. In order for this attack to succeed, it has to be in range of a targeted Wi-Fi network. Meaning a cybercriminal would have to park outside your house for a while to successfully attack your network. While possible, it\u2019s also very unlikely.<\/p>\n

This attack also affects some operating systems (the software used to make your computer run, like Windows, Mac OS, Android) more than others. The most vulnerable operating systems are Linux and Android<\/a>. Additionally, a targeted network must remain in place long enough for the attack to transpire (which can be as little as a few seconds). This means that large Wi-Fi networks can be attacked. It also means that connected devices are vulnerable as well.<\/p>\n

Tips to Protect Yourself<\/h2>\n

So, what can you do to protect yourself? Well, it largely depends on how quickly manufacturers and software developers can release patches to fix these vulnerabilities. Still, there are steps you can take to protect yourself:<\/p>\n