WPA cracking theory behind it

[adam2016]

Hey guys,

I posted a thread earlier today about the theory behind WPA on reddit, but the thread seems to pretty much dead, if anybody has any knowledge on this it would be greatly appreciated


I'm confused as to to how programs like aircrack-ng and Pyrit function when it comes to cracking WPA passwords,

I have been told that aircrack calculates a MICs ( message integrity code ) from the wordlist given and some of the targets access points essid such as it's essid, aircrack then compares each respective MIC to the the one captured in the handshake,

BUT

In Pyrit it tells me it uses the PMKs ( these PMKs are generated by pyrit from a wordlist ) to crack the WPA passphrase

so what is the difference between PMKs and MICs( I know a MIC is created from the PSK,routers essid,APNonce,Supplicant Nonce etc but what is the difference between the two)

and do both programs use different methods?

I apologise if this is a noobish question, I'm just very interested in the theory behind it

thanks

[Duthomhas]

I see no one is noticing you here either.

I know nothing about it. I presume you already asked Google?
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+is+wpa+insecure

One of those top answers leads to some good stuff... Like this blog:
https://security.blogoverflow.com/2013/08/wifi-security-history-of-insecurities-in-wep-wpa-and-wpa2/
(Which also has a good link to Security.SE)

Maybe someone else here can give you better pointers.