Hacking toolkits for cracking WiFi networks are being sold in China to ordinary users, according to various reports. Costing just US$24 at a Beijing bazaar, the kit comes with an off-the-shelf USB-based WiFi adapter, a live CD-ROM containing the free BackTrack security penetration distribution, and also a detailed instruction book. 

The objective of this package is simple: To help their users gain illicit access to the Internet--for free--by piggybacking onto poorly secured Wi-Fi networks. The actual cracking is done by booting into the Linux-based live CD-ROM, after which the user can boot back to their Windows environment to make use of the revealed key.

Obviously, the vulnerability of WEP and certain versions of WPA have been well-known for some time now. Indeed, security vendors such as SecPoint have product lines created specifically to probe Wi-Fi networks. Until now, these tools were generally beyond the reach of ordinary users either due to their price or lack of user-friendliness. This flagrant peddling of a Wi-Fi key-cracking kit can only be a strong reminder for all to switch to WPA2 as soon as possible.

For more on this story:
- check out the article at Computerworld

Related Articles:
Researcher warns of iPhone WiFi vulnerability
Apple iPad users report WiFi connectivity problems
Software turns Windows 7 laptops into Wi-Fi hotspots
The challenge of building a high-density Wi-Fi network