Brute force is defined as the set of predefined values that an attacker uses to attack a target and then analyzing the response until they succeed. Success would ultimately depend on the set of predefined values. Dictionary attack used by various attackers out there to crack the password of the wireless systems is the most common type of brute force attack there is. In that kind of attack, the attacker would use a dictionary consisting of millions of words that can be used for the sake of conducting a word attack and tunneling the numbers into a sloppy pattern until the system has cracked the password.
These types of attacks are relatively slower, why? Because there are both numbers and words that are thrown into the mix. Simply think of the number of possibilities there are, thousand? Millions? even greater than that? no one can guess when the system would get it right. That is why these types of attacks take relatively months on end until these can yield some successful outcomes.
There are many tools out there that can be used for conducting a brute force attack but the following are some of the most tempting and competitive ones that have certainly stretched the limits too far away;
- Aircrack-ng
This is a popular Wi-Fi cracking tool that is made available to everyone for free, there are various possibilities with this tool that a user can come across to hack the wireless networks and systems. This tool does come with WEP/WPA/WPA2-PSK cracker and the analysis tool for the sake of performing the attack on a Wi-Fi 802.11.
Basically, the dictionary attack is conducted by the tool for the sake of guessing the right password of a wireless network, therefore the success of the attack would depend entirely on the type of dictionary used and the number of different combinations that it has lying around. The better and more effective dictionary is more likely to guess the right password and eventually crack the security of the wireless system that is at play.
- John the Ripper
It has been the most tempting choice among the programmers and network enthusiasts for the sake of conducting brute force attacks. It is a free password cracking tool that was initially developed by the Unix systems but later on the developers did release for various other systems and platforms. Today it can be used on fifteen different operating systems without any added problems. Breaking the authentication of a wireless network and identifying the weak links within the chain are some of the most amazing traits of this tool right there. It can automatically detect the type of hashing used within the password and the methods that can be used for the sake of hijacking it.
- Rainbow crack
It generates the rainbow tables when trying to sabotage a wireless networking system, this way it can be classified as a different iteration among various other password cracking tools there are. These rainbow tables are believed to be pre-computed which would reduce the time it takes to perform the attack. There are various organizations that are constantly in work with developing pre-computed rainbow tables for various internet users. In order to save time and further your attack, you can simply download these rainbow tables and run your attack catered on these.
- Cain and Abel
Various types of different password systems can be cracked with the help of this amazing tool. It performs brute force attack downloading the dictionary and using various combinations out of it. Not only the dictionary attack but it can also be used to perform the cryptanalysis attack. Cryptanalysis attacks are done using the rainbow tables that can easily be downloaded from the internet. Basic functions of the Cain and Abel tool are too many to list but on a technical note, the most tempting of them all include sniffing the network, cracking secured passwords and the dictionary, recording the VoIP conversations, decoding the scrambled passwords, revealing the password boxes and analyzing the routing protocols.
- Ophcrack
This is another brute force attacking tool that can be used for the cracking of the Windows passwords. Rainbow tables are again used for the sake of cracking window passwords by using the LM hashes. It is a free and open-source tool and can be used to crack the window password only in a few minutes. Less than 14 character passwords are more likely to be cracked earlier with this type of tool. Rainbow tables to be used with this tool are also available for download.
- Hashcat
It claims to be one of the fastest and tempting password cracking tool there is that is entirely CPU based. It is free and can be used with various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS platforms, and various others as well. It supports a wide array of different attacks that it can carry on including the brute force attack, combinator attack, dictionary attack, fingerprint attack, hybrid attack, mash attack, and various other types of attacks. The only saving grace that this tool brings on the table is its ability to speed up the process of password cracking by rewinding everything to the CPU, it works efficiently well with an overclocked CPU as the processing time can be reduced and results can be obtained quite faster.
- SAMInside
This is the perfect tool that you can use for the sake of cracking Windows OS passwords. It is similar to various other password cracking tools out there and kind of uses the same syntax. On a pretty good computer the tool claims to be able to crack 10 million passwords per second, it is a pretty hyped up statement but still, if such processing power is provided, it can become achievable. Various types of attacking methods or attack types are compatible with this particular tool in question such as the Mask tool, Dictionary tool, Hybrid attack, and various other similar attack systems where most of them require rainbow tables to be able to execute the attack. It can support almost up to 400 different hashing algorithms that is why a large number of different passwords can be cracked with the help of this amazing tool.
- THC Hydra
It is known for its ability to crack the passwords of the network authentications by performing the brute force attacks. It can perform dictionary attacks against more than thirty different protocols such as telnet, ftp, http, smb, and many more. It can be downloaded and used on a variety of different operating systems including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
There are only a few popular tools available for password cracking using the brute force attack but there are various others that can perform brute force on different kinds of authentications. THC Hydra has the ability to come across as many hashing algorithms there are for cracking the passwords and managing to crack the password by sabotaging whatever authentication system chartered into place to stop the breach.
If you want to work as a cybersecurity specialist then there are various different information security certifications present out there that you can complete. Not only will this increase your chances of getting a pretty tentative job in the field but also would make your life easier.