Researchers have come a step closer to breaking open a common WiFi encryption scheme. An attacker can now read and falsify short packets in the common TKIP version of WiFi Protected Access (WPA) encryption in about one minute—a huge speed increase from the previously-required 12-15 minutes.
The hack is not a complete break; it only results in the ability to read and falsify particular short data packets, but cannot retrieve a WPA encryption key. Still, the rapid development of WPA hacks suggests that those paranoid about security ensure that their WiFi networks are using WPA2 with AES encryption rather than WPA with TKIP.The current attack comes courtesy of Toshihiro Ohigashi (Hiroshima University) and Masakatu Morii (Kobe University), and it is outlined in a new paper (PDF) of theirs called "A Practical Message Falsification Attack on WPA." It builds on 2008 research from a pair of German students, research that also attacked WPA TKIP systems and could read individual packets, crafted new data for them, then recalculate a legitimate packet checksum.
Read this full article at arsTechnica
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