Best tools for penetrating Wi-Fi networks on Linux

To test the security of your Wi-Fi network, it is not advisable to use an operating system like Windows, which is often too limited and with few tools designed for hacking networks. To test on Wi-Fi networks we will necessarily have to get a Linux distribution, perhaps installing it on a USB stick ready to use when we need to carry out network penetration tests.

After choosing the Linux distribution to use for testing, we will need to learn how to use the terminal and only after a lot of practice will we be ready to use the best ones tool to penetrate Wi-Fi networks on Linux.

Since the practice of hacking Wi-Fi networks is illegal (since the goal is always the very fast Wi-Fi network of the neighbor), in the following guide we will find only an indication on how the tools work and how to install them on a Ubuntu-based distribution (or better still using Kali Linux which already incorporates them), while for the actual tests we will have to rely on specific searches on the web or videos present on the net (often very detailed and accurate).

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Aircrack-ng

The most famous tool that we can install on a Linux distribution is Aircrack-ng.

This tool made the history of hacking on Wi-Fi networks, providing all the tools to analyze sniffed packets (other famous tools such as airmon-ng and airodump-ng) and thus find the network keys with WEP encryption (the most weak of all) and WPA (more robust and hard to crack).

Aircrack-ng is very powerful but, like almost all tools of the time, difficult to configure to hack modern networks, since practically all attacks must be carried out via a dictionary or other very complex methods.

READ ALSO: The 5 operating systems used by hackers and security technicians

Reaver

A much more advanced tool than Aircrack-ng for testing Wi-Fi networks is Reaver for all major Linux distributions.

With this tool we can attempt to hack Wi-Fi passwords with WPA and WPA2 encryption, using the brute force method. The success rate is not high on modern modems, but if we use the tool to test the password of an old modem the success rates are much higher, especially if the WPS is active (from which it manages to recover the PIN).

In another article we talked about how to crack WPA / WPA2 WiFi network password using Reaver itself.

Wifiphisher

Among the most advanced and modern tools that we can use for testing Wi-Fi networks it certainly stands out Wifiphisher.

This tool is designed to use the attack Man-in-the-middleso as to deceive the devices already connected to the network and exchange the Access Point for the PC in use for hacking, so as to be able to recover the password during the initial communications between the PC and the router / modem.

The success rates are good (compared to the tools seen so far), but to exploit it properly we must be very close to the modem to be attached or use special antennas to pick up Wi-Fi signals even from great distances.

Infernal-Wireless v3

A complete tool for piercing any type of Wi-Fi network is Infernal-Wireless v3a small program written in Python available from the Github site.

Using this tool we will have at our disposal, in a simple graphical interface, all the most famous hacking tools to penetrate Wi-Fi networks with WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption. Among the hacking methods included are brute force, dictionary attack, man-in-the-middle, WPS attack and other similar attacks, so that you can attempt password cracking in many ways.

Even if the tool has a graphical interface it is not at all easy to use it, since we will have to know many of the commands seen on Aircrack-ng and also learn the specific commands for this program (intended for real professionals).

Wireshark

Another legend of Wi-Fi penetration testing is without a doubt Wiresharkavailable for all Linux distributions.

This tool works first of all as a network sniffer, analyzing and capturing all packets in the vicinity, then providing a number of options for attempting to hack the collected packets, using a dictionary attack or a brute force attack.

Wireshark is great for trying to enter wireless networks protected with WEP, WPA and WPA2, but even in this case you must carefully follow the online guides or videos on the network to be able to effectively use this tool when testing for Wi-Fi .

READ ALSO: How to use Wireshark to capture information on the network and intercept traffic

Conclusions

In general, there is no better tool than another, but the type of network we want to test (or penetrate) makes the difference between the various tools, since there are tools that can work well on a particular type of network (or encryption) and tools suitable for use in the immediate vicinity.

These tools are also used for hack the neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks and thus “latch” surfingbut before learning how to use them and discovering the vulnerabilities of the neighbors’ network, a lot of time will pass that it is better to choose a cheap Internet subscription and leave the hacking to the industry experts.

Of course, we can also make life difficult for hackers by adopting advanced security measures for Wi-Fi networksthus nullifying much of the tools and methods used to find out the Wi-Fi password.