Introduction

In today's world, one of the most common ways to share information is through the use of wireless communications. Wi-Fi is used in many locations, including the home, the workplace, airports, coffee shops, retail shops, and many other areas too numerous to name.

With the popularity of this type of communication, it is a forgone conclusion that there is a lot of valuable information that is traversing these networks. It is due to this information and the inherent weaknesses in these networks that they are common targets for those wishing to steal access, or information, or both.

In this book, our intention is twofold, with one objective being to introduce you to the tools in Kali Linux designed to audit wireless network, and the other to show some of the different attacks that are possible. This approach will serve to give you not only information on the attacks and how they work, but also give you valuable insight into reducing the likelihood or effectiveness of these attacks.

Getting started with Kali

Kali Linux is intended for both those who will perform pentesting and forensics; however in this book, we will be focusing on the former more than the latter. In fact, on the topic of pentesting, we will be focusing on using only those tools used to test and breach the security of wireless networks or devices.

In order to get the most out of this book and understand how it is used to penetrate wireless networks, you should have some basic skills in place to make things easier. It is expected that if you are going to start this journey into auditing wireless networks you should, at the very least, have the following skills:

• Good understanding of the TCP/IP protocol and IPv4
• Knowledge of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model
• Understanding of network frame types (that is, IEEE 802.3, 802.11, and so on)
• Knowledge of radio frequencies and technologies is helpful, but optional
• Experience setting up and working with wireless devices and networks
• Hands-on experience working with Kali Linux is helpful, but we will fill in the gaps in your knowledge along the way
• Experience working with virtualization is optional if you intend to make use of it for hosting your setup
• Experience troubleshooting networks
• Comfort using the command line

Again, of these last few points, lack of them will not hurt you, but possessing them will go a long way in helping you both in this book and in your pentesting career.