What Is Aircrack-Ng And How It Works?

With the expansion of wireless networks, ensuring security has become the top priority. Aircrack-ng is an effective tool specially designed for auditing wireless networks. 

Aircrack-ng is a suite of tools to determine WiFi network security, which includes testing, monitoring, attacking, and cracking. The suit helps to test the strength of wireless network passwords. Every tool is a command line, allowing for heavy scripting.

Get ready to dive into the world of wireless network security and auditing with this suite. Also, discover how you can fortify your WiFi security against possible threats.

Aircrack-ng is a complete suite of tools to assess WiFi network security.

Overview Of Aircrack-ng:

Aircrack-ng is a suite of tools that comes pre-installed in Kali Linux. It is basically used for WiFi network hacking and security. This all-in-one packet sniffer includes a WEP and WPA/WPA2 cracker, a hash-capturing tool, and an analyzing tool. Aircrack helps capture the package, crack those hashes with multiple attacks with dictionary attacks, and even read the hashes out of the package. This tool is a wifi password hacker and supports almost all the newest wireless interfaces.

Aircrack identifies vulnerabilities, assesses the security posture of a wireless network, and tests the network encryption’s strength. Additionally, Aircrack-ng determines rogue access points, performs penetration testing tasks, and simulates multiple attack scenarios. 

It mainly focuses on 4 areas of WiFi security:

• Testing: Scanning driver capacities and WiFi cards (injection and capture)
• Monitoring: Packet capture and data export to text files for further processing by third-party tools.
• Attacking: De-authentication, fake access points, replay attacks, and others via packet injection.
• Cracking: WEP and WPA PSK (WPA 1 and 2). 

All tools in Aircrack-ng are command lines, allowing for heavy scripting. Many of the GUIs have taken benefit of this feature. It works mainly on Linux. However, it also works on Windows, FreeBSD, macOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD, as well as eComStation2, and even Solaris.

Aircrack-ng Tools: 

Utilizing the Aircrack-ng suite comprises employing various tools within the suite, depending on the task. Every tool has a distinct purpose. These tools can be used independently or in combination with other tools present in the Aircrack-ng suite to perform a broad range of wireless network security tasks.

• Airmon-ng: This tool permits you to put the wireless interface into monitor mode, allowing the capture of all network packets. Monitor mode is important for passive network monitoring.

• Airodump-ng: An effective packet capture tool that displays precise information about nearby wireless networks, including their channel, connected device, BSSID, and encryption type. For further analysis, it also captures packets.

• Aireplay-ng: Mainly used to inject traffic into a network for generating useful capture data. It can simulate multiple network attacks and speed up data packet capture.

• Airdecap-ng: It is used to decrypt WEP and WPA/WPA2-PSK packets captured with Airodump-ng.

• Aircrack-ng: This tool is the star of the suite. It can help you recover WEP and WPA/WPA2 encryption keys. It uses multiple techniques to crack the security of protected WiFi networks. 

How Aircrack-ng Works?

The suite comprises attacks known as PTW, FMS, and KoreK. The Aircrack-ng identifies some of the network packets and sees for any vulnerabilities using other tools, such as Nikto or Metasploit. This tool depends on other tools, and after identifying vulnerabilities, it becomes wireless attack-ready.

Specifically, the FMS attack is utilized against Rivest Cipher 4 (RC4) encrypted keys. The KoreK attack is employed against WEP-encrypted keys. Most public WiFi will have WEP-encrypted passwords. PTW attack is employed against WPA and WEP encrypted keys.

The Aircrack-ng tool can be utilized in several ways, such as making a wireless attack, creating a fake access point, monitoring the WiFi network, and so on.

How to use Aircrack-ng on Windows 10

Aircrack-ng is a powerful tool that helps in assessing Wi-Fi network security. Before using Aircrack-ng in Windows 10 and 11 you need to install it. Let’s look at the steps on how to Install Aircrack-ng on Windows 11 and 10:

• Search Aircrack-ng in your browser 
• visit Aircrack-ng.org
• Click on the “Download” option available under Aircrack-ng 1.7 
• When the download is completed, Click on “Show in the folder” 
• Right-click on the Aircrack-ng folder and now select “Extract Here” 
• Click on “ok” in the pop-up that will appear
• In the common form, give the “aircrack-ng” command, and now it will be installed 

If you fail to run the command then follow the following steps: 

• Go to the Bin folder and select (32 Bit or 64 Bit) 
• Copy the path configuration 
• Go to Windows and search for “Edit the system Environment variables” and Click on “Environment Variables” 
• Click on “New” and set a new path variable by putting the variable name as Path and paste the path configuration in the variable value. 
• Now open the command form and type Aircrack-ng 
• Now the command will run 

You have successfully installed Aircrack-ng in Windows 10. 

Using Aircrack-ng in Windows 10 in GUI mode 

You either use it in GUI or CLI mode. Let’s take a look at how you can use it in GUI mode.

• First, you need to copy and paste the Aircrack-ng GUI folder into 64 bit or 32-bit file 
• Click on the pasted Aircrack-ng GUI in the 32bit/64bit file
• Choose the capture file from your Wifi hand (please capture it before starting the process) 
• Now select encryption (WSP/WPA) {You can get this information while monitoring the Wifi} 
• Go to Wordlist and choose the saved password list 
• Click on Advanced Settings and specify ESSID/ BSSID
• Now “Launch” it and Aircrack-ng will get started

How To Use Aircrack-ng In Kali Linux?

Learn how to use Aircrack-ng in Kali Linux with our step-by-step guide. We will explain how to crack WPA/WPA2 passwords, capture packets, and scan WiFi networks using the wireless hacking tool Aircrack-ng on Kali Linux. Make sure to have these things in place before getting started. 

• Kali Linux: Aircrack-ng is pre-installed on Kali Linux. In other case, you can download it from the authorized site and follow the instructions to install it.

• Wireless Network Adapter: An appropriate wireless network adapter supporting packet injection and monitor mode is needed. Some prevalent options include TP-Link TL-WN722N and Alfa AWUS036NHA. Ensure that Kali Linux supports and recognizes the adapter.

Now, let us look at the step-by-step guide on using Aircrack-ng in Kali Linux:

Open A Terminal

Launching a terminal on your Kali Linux system is the first step. Having it open is important because you will be running the Aircrack-ng commands from the terminal. 

Put The Wireless Card In Monitor Mode

Monitor mode allows the wireless adapter to capture all the wireless traffic in the area. Use the Airmon-ng command to put the wireless card in monitor mode. Replace wlan0 with the wireless interface name, and it may vary. This command will generate a fresh interface, typically named wlan0mon. This interface enables you to monitor and capture packets. 

Scan For Wireless Network

To scan for available wireless networks and to gain information about them, use the Airodump-ng command. Replace wlan0mon with the monitor mode interface. You will notice a list of nearby WiFi networks, each known by its encryption type, ESSID (network name), BSSID (MAC address), and channel. Pay close attention to the network you want to assess, as you will need its channel and BSSID for further steps. 

Capture Data Packets

Open a new terminal tab or window and again use the Airodump-ng command to capture data packets from the target network. Now, specify the channel and BSSID of the target network and select an output file name. 

• Replace <BSSID> with the BSSID of the target network.
• Replace <channel> with the channel number of the target network.
• <output-file-prefix>: Select a prefix for the output capture files (e.g., “mycapture”).

Deauthenticate A Client

You can deauthenticate a client device linked to the target network using the command Airplay-ng to accelerate the process of capturing a WPA/WPA2 handshake for password cracking.

• Replace <BSSID> with the target network BSSID.
• Replace <client-MAC> with the connected client’s MAC address.

This particular command sends de-authentication packets to a specific client, causing it to potentially trigger and disconnect a reconnection, which may result in capturing the WPA/WPA2 handshake.

Capture The WPA/WPA2 Handshake

A WPA handshake message will pop up in the top right corner while monitoring the Airodump-ng window from step 4. This means the capturing of the handshake is successful. 

Crack the WPA/WPA2 Key

To crack the passphrase WPA/WPA2, you will need a wordlist, including potential passwords. Kali Linux contains various wordlists in /usr/share/wordlists/. To perform the cracking, you can use the Aircrack-ng command. 

• Replace /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt with the path to the chosen wordlist. 
• <BSSID>: Replace this with the target network’s BSSID.
• <output-file.cap>: Change this with the capture file’s name (e.g., “mycapture-01.cap”). 

Aircrack-ng will attempt to crack the passphrase by using the provided wordlist. It will show the WPA/WPA2 key in the terminal if successful. 

Examine The Results

After successfully interpreting the WPA/WPA2 key, carefully examine the results. Ensure you document the key and any other suitable information for your security assessment report. 

Final Line:

Aircrack-ng is an effective suite of tools for wireless network security assessment. Its capabilities in analyzing, capturing, and, in a few cases, cracking wireless encryption keys make it a valuable asset for enthusiasts and security professionals alike. It plays an essential role in enhancing the overall security of the digital world. However, it’s better to remember that ethical and responsible usage is vital to its continued relevance in the cybersecurity realm.

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