wifi concept, that i would like to understand

Hello world!

As i understand the wi-fi router can be hacked
but what about cellphones/laptops with wifi module?
Is there are any differences between wifi retranslater and receiver?

 

Routers don't get hacked because they have Wi-Fi module or through them.
Routers get hacked in the same way everything else connected to the Internet does - through bugs in the software.

Router is a small computer- with CPU, RAM, memory (flash) holding its OS - usually Linux-based system.
If there is a bug in the firmware the router can be hacked - exactly like phones or computers that have critical security vulnerabilities in their respective OSes.

 

mm
i mean: in older times we have cable connection.. and the main danger was enthernet.
now in wifi era, router can be hacked via bruteforce/vocabulary attack.(couse his SID? can be visible)
question is: is it possible to hack lappy via wi-fi module?
trying to understand: is dissabling wifi conection make my lappy more safe or it doesnot matter.

 

If you are using WPA2 + AES it can't realistically be cracked at all.
No one is even trying to crack AES encryption when there are weaker links that are far easier to exploit.

If you are using WPA2 + AES and some reasonably strong Wi-Fi passphrase, there will be no improvement in security if you disable Wi-Fi and stick to Ethernet instead.
If you are using WEP in the other hand - you are screwed.

By the way - hiding SSID does not help. It's not really hidden it's just "marked" invisible pretty much like when you delete a file and it's not really deleted, it's just marked as deleted but it's still there.

 

The last I heard, routers with WPS could be cracked with a Linux-based attack but this doesn't seem to be what you are asking.

Simply leaving the WiFi module on your system turned on will not make a difference to its security, if it is not connected to a network.

EDIT: I suppose, if you use an app such as Connectify which makes a virtual router using your laptop's wifi card, I'd imagine that it *could* be accessed by another system - although this is an exceptional circumstance. With this said, the range would also be pretty miniscule and you could probably see and wave to the person who has nefarious shenanigans in mind.

 

You WiFi module must initiate and complete a "handshake" with the router. Without something or someone on your machine, this typically doesn't happen.

 

thank you, i get it

 

There was a WPS vulnerability that was discovered a couple of years ago, IIRC it has been fixed for most routers through a firmware update. If you have admin rights to the router or access point, just turn it off entirely.

 

Just for giggles, I booted a Kali install with a few packages added. Interestingly, despite having turned off WPS on one of the routers, it still accepted WPS handshakes. That router is fairly old and only shares films to a Raspberry Pi box, so I'm not too concerned.

 

Yeah, some routers were know to still accept WPS handshakes despite having it disabled. It's been a while, so I don't remember all the specifics, all I remember is that my router at the time (Linksys E3000) got its firmware updates as soon as the update was pushed give or take a few days.