320 CHAPTER 9 Wireless penetration testing With the evolution of wireless networks, it is becoming more and more common for penetration testers to either have to test the client's wireless networks for vulner- abilities or use those wireless networks in order to further compromise the client's systems. In both cases, the wireless network is another layer that must be analyzed or compromised before additional penetration testing can be done on the client's hosts. Keeping in mind that a wireless network is really just a floating network connection riding on radio frequencies (RFs) can help you to better picture how this fits into our overall penetration testing tasks. With that visual, cracking the wireless network is akin to finding the right adapter or cable end to plug into a wired network connection. Once connected, you are free to perform any tasks on the wireless network that other, authorized, wireless devices are permitted to perform. So in this chapter, our objective is to discover and successfully compromise (if possible) a wireless network. When that task is complete, we'll be free to perform penetration testing of individual hosts as described in prior chapters. For this chapter, we'll focus on the technologies, techniques, and tools that can be used to compro- mise a wireless network.