The tool passively monitors and analyses data travelling across 802.11b (known as WiFi) wireless networks. Once enough information has been gathered (around 100M – 1GB), it can identify in less than a second the encryption key, effectively the password for all data being transferred on the network.
The wireless networks affected are supposed to be protected by a security feature known as the Wired Equivalent Privacy system (WEP), but flaws have been found in WEP, the most serious of which lies in its encryption algorithm and which can be exploited by AirSnort users, provided they have a computer with a wireless network card within range.
The authors of AirSnort say it is intended to heighten awareness of security flaws. They hope that wireless vendors will now be forced to significantly enhance the encryption of their products, and that users will now realise they cannot rely on WEP encryption as their sole security mechanism.