How does the Newsham 21-bit attack work?
A lot of wireless access points offer a key generation process on the basis of an easy to remember passphrase. Unfortunately, some companies implement a very dangerous algorithm for the generation of 40-bit WEP keys. This algorithm only generates keys with an effective strength of 21 bits. KisMAC is able to bruteforce these keys in a very short time. Access Points from the following companies appear to be vulnerable: Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, Netgear… The following companies use other algorithms: 3Com, Apple.
A lot of wireless access points offer a key generation process on the basis of an easy to remember passphrase. Unfortunately, some companies implement a very dangerous algorithm for the generation of 40-bit WEP keys. This algorithm only generates keys with an effective strength of 21 bits. KisMAC is able to bruteforce these keys in a very short time. Access Points from the following companies appear to be vulnerable: Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, Netgear… The following companies use other algorithms: 3Com, Apple, 2Wire.