New service offers cloud cracking for WPA

by Steve Ragan - Dec 8 2009, 16:30

Researcher Moxie Marlinspike has launched a new cloud-based cracking service aimed at penetration testers and auditors that will help test the strength of their WPA-PSK protected network. The tool is named WPA Cracker, and can be used for as little as $17.00 USD.

The WPA Cracker service offers access to a 400 CPU cluster, which will run a WPA Handshake capture against a dictionary created specifically for WPA passwords. This dictionary is no joke either, as it contains 135 million words. The service cuts down the time needed when using a desktop or laptop, which depending on the dictionary, could last five days or better.

For penetration testers or auditors who cannot wait, the ability to test a handshake in minutes is golden. For $17.00 USD, you can run the handshake against half the cluster. The entire cluster would cost $34.00 USD. According to the WPA Crack site, the processing time is about 40 minutes for the half-mode and 20 minutes for the entire cluster.

The service’s FAQ mentions both the Rainbow Tables created by the Church of Wi-Fi, as well as the OpenWall dictionary. While complementing both, they also stress some of their drawbacks. If you were considering either one for your work, check out the FAQ section before picking one over the other when compared to WPA Crack, as it stresses some important points.

To use the WPA Crack service, you’ll need a WPA handshake capture, the network ESSID, and an email address to send the result to, along with the fee, which is paid via Amazon Payments.

If you’re interested, head here.

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