Router WPA2 Passphrase

Hey guys,

I just installed a new wireless router and set it up with WPA2 encryption. My pass phrase is just a sentence. I was wondering if this would be insecure because of dictionary attacks? It's a really long sentence, but the individual words can easily be found in a dictionary.

Thanks!

Mark

 

A 20 character passphrase for WPA is considered secure. If it over that it should be quite secure. Ideally use 63 extended ASCII characters and store it on your PC. It be safe enough.

I like to use this program for WPA. WEP/WPA key Generator

eg. ¸þ'ÉIáà°¿¬¯w üÜøí¨Øò4Û¥2#¾*ïÉcl.V·ÜÑà,t xÎQ»$ß"Røñ:l2ÕÊ_¶WÎ%On< very secure

 

I'm using GRC passwords. Working fine and high quality and security. All devices doesn't allow to use full printable ASCII so I have to use that "easy" one.

 

Hello,
That's called paranoia. Something like A11-y0ur-bAs3-arE-bEl0ng-t0-us is more than enough.
Cheers,
Mrk

 

This is an interesting thread, because I've often wondered if you encrypt your hard drive so a password is required upon boot, and you use the best practice of employing a completely random password such as: ?2kCoB,<(NvI|ILkf!J+(P.;0ax'FmItwZpGdOLV4>tO~BYbN"<:0>[)3To3;#G, then how do you enter it each time you boot/reboot? You would obviously have to write it down somewhere which creates a security vulnerability. Anyone have good or interesting ideas on how to create a random password that is properly managed? (i.e. not written down, unless the paper is stored somewhere remotely/securely)

 

Using a program to create a random 63 extended ASCII password is so easy and no more trouble than creating A11-y0ur-bAs3-arE-bEl0ng-t0-us , it's just a click to generate, so i might as well get the securest password i can. if that's being paranoid which is a good thing in security then so be it. It just about using common sense, after awhile it second nature. whichever i use i still have to save it to paste it in. If it's a password i can remember then it's not secure enough. Saving it on the PC is hardly a risk as the PC is so secure. I store it encrypted again with AES text encryption. I could save it to a USB stick but don't. Any hackers that did get hold of the password would have to be close to use the wireless and they also have to spoof the MAC address. Any extra LAN IP's that join the network, software will alert me. I disable SSID,assign static IP and disable DHCP. I change the password every month and wipe my PC lots. I live out in the country with less houses around and it alot safer than living in a city surrounded by lots of wireless connections.

 

Randomness and 64 characters is a lot less important than having a non pure alphanumeric password. IE: The odds of "Th1sPass%wordBe1ngCracked" are slim to none.

The odds of "Password" being cracked are very good, but the odds of "!%soiV5#" being cracked are a lot less. Actually, unless someone does a pure brute force (starting at 0 and checking everything) it is unlikely you will be compromised since most people will start with a dictionary attack trying combination of words.

15 characters using letters, numbers, and specials will most likely not be cracked anytime in the next year, depending on how many tests / second.

 

As long as your word is not in the dictionary or combination words in the dictionary you should be fine.

 

KeePass

 

I agree with both of the above, especially for the typical home router. Maybe for the FBI or the CIA, okay, more is better, otherwise we're getting into overkill.