Kismet (program)

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Kismet

Kismet 2.7.1
Developer:	Mike Kershaw (dragorn)
Latest release:	2006-04-R1 / April 13, 2006
OS:	Cross-platform
Use:	Packet Sniffer
License:	GPL
Website:	www.kismetwireless.net

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Kismet is a network detector, packet sniffer, and intrusion detection system for 802.11 wireless LANs. Kismet will work with any wireless card which supports raw monitoring mode, and can sniff 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g traffic. The program runs under Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X and OpenWRT. The client can also run on Windows, although a drone is the only compatible packet source.

[edit] Features

Kismet is unlike most other wireless network detectors in that it works passively. This means that without sending any loggable packets, it is able to detect the presence of both wireless access points and wireless clients, and associate them to each other.

Kismet also includes basic wireless IDS features such as detecting active wireless sniffing programs including NetStumbler, as well as a number of wireless network attacks.

Kismet has the ability to log all sniffed packets and save them in a Wireshark/Tcpdump or Airsnort compatible fileformat.

To find as many networks as possible, kismet also supports optional channelhopping. This means that it constantly changes from channel but not in a repeating 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14 sequence but in a user-defined sequence with a default value that leaves big holes between channels (for example 1-6-11-2-7-12-3-8-13-4-9-14-5-10). The advantage with this method is that it will capture more packets because adjacent channels overlap.

Kismet also supports logging of the geographical co-ordinates of the network if the input from a GPS receiver is additionally available.

[edit] Server/drone/client infrastructure

Kismet has three separate parts. A drone can be used to collect packets, and then pass them on to a server for interpretation. A server can either be used in conjunction with a drone, or on its own, interpreting packet data, and extrapolating wireless information, and organizing it. The client communicates with the server and displays the information the server collects.