The 9 Best Penetration Testing Tools for Linux

Penetration Testing is the process of identifying, exploiting and mitigating vulnerabilities in wireless networks. It is an important part of network security and often requires specialized tools to be used.

Linux is a great platform for wireless penetration testing as it has a wide variety of tools available for this purpose. In this article, we will discuss some of the best Wireless Penetration Testing Tools for Linux that can be used to identify, exploit and mitigate vulnerabilities in wireless networks.

We will also discuss their features and use cases so that you can choose the right tool according to your needs.

1. Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng is perhaps the most popular option for hackers looking to breach Wi-Fi networks and access passwords for ethical or unethical purposes. It is popular among those attempting to crack WEP and WPA passwords.

The operating premise of Aircrack is based on collecting network packets utilising a number of failsafe algorithms. Via an efficient FMS attack, the tool collects enough packets to recover the password. It supports the majority of wireless adapters and offers a high success rate.

2. Reaver

Reaver is a well-known open-source wireless network penetration tool that should be in any pen tester’s toolkit. For stealing passwords on WPA and WPA2-secured wireless networks, this programme employs brute force attacks.

The Reaver source code is publicly available on Google, but before you begin using the application, you should read its usage instructions. This Wi-Fi penetration tool is still in use, despite the fact that it hasn’t been updated in a long time.

3. Hashcat

Hashcat is the fastest password cracker in the world. It is based on an in-kernel rule engine, which allows you to utilise it on a variety of common operating systems.

Hashcat is widely supported by operating systems such as Linux, Windows, and macOS. Hashcat’s password candidate brain functionality remains one of the tool’s most appealing features.

It includes a built-in benchmark system as well as an internal thermal watchdog. It also supports hex-salt, hex-charset, automatic performance optimization, interactive pause/resume, distributed cracking, multi-device, and many more features.

4. Airsnort

Airsnort is a free wifi pentesting programme that is used to hack WEP wireless passwords. It collects network packets, examines them, and then uses them to generate the encryption key once enough packets have been collected.

This utility is very simple to use and is compatible with both Windows and Linux operating systems. Even though it’s an excellent password cracking tool for a WEP network. The source code for Airsnort is still available on Sourceforge.net, however it hasn’t been updated in years…

It is, nevertheless, a wonderful wifi security tool to attempt for cracking wireless passwords. One big disadvantage is that it only works with WEP networks, which is a bummer considering its extensive list of beneficial features.

5. Wireshark

Wireshark is a wireless penetration testing programme that analyses network packets for free. It allows you to see what is going on in your wireless network by capturing and analysing packets at the micro-level.

It is multi-platform and can run on all popular operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris, and FreeBSD. Even if it won’t help you recover plaintext passwords, it can sniff and capture live data on wifi networks, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and USB, among other things.

But, in order to properly use this tool, you must have a thorough understanding of network protocols in order to interpret the data obtained. Thus you must first learn network protocols.

6. Wifiphisher

Wifiphisher is a wireless network security tool that allows users to perform phishing attacks on WiFi networks. The tool is designed to imitate legitimate wireless access points to trick unsuspecting victims into disclosing sensitive information.

Wifiphisher is easy to use and can be deployed on a wide range of platforms. The tool comes packed with a variety of features, including password capturing, DNS spoofing, and automated attacks. With Wifiphisher, hackers can launch targeted phishing attacks on specific users or entire networks. In summary, Wifiphisher is a powerful tool for pentester who looking to exploit weak WiFi security systems.

This tool is designed to provide users with a man-in-the-middle position against Wi-Fi access clients in a fast and efficient manner. Its main purpose is to facilitate customized web phishing attacks, station infection with malware, and automated phishing attacks that meet the user’s preference and requirements.

The tool is freely available and comes pre-loaded within Kali, a specialized penetration testing Linux distribution. It is commonly used by hackers to steal Wi-Fi passwords.

7. CoWPAtty

CowPatty is an automated command-line wireless penetration testing tool that uses PSK-based authentication to launch dictionary attacks on WPA/WPA2 wifi networks.

If a precomputed PMK file for the SSID being assessed is available, it can start an automated network attacks. Because this wireless hacking tool operates on a word-list containing the passwords to be used in the attack, you are out of luck if the password does not appear on the word list.

The disadvantage is that this tool is slow because the hash uses SHA1 and the SSID speed is determined by the password strength. As a result, it employs the password dictionary to construct the hash for each word in the dictionary using the SSID. As a result, while this tool is simple to use, it is quite sluggish.

8. Infernal-Twin

Infernal-Twin is a wireless penetration testing tool designed to help pentesters analyze the security of WiFi networks. With this program, you can launch an Evil Twin attack by impersonating a wireless access point and sniffing network communications.

After creating a fake WiFi access point, you can use phishing techniques to monitor users and perform man-in-the-middle attacks against a specific user. Because it is written in Python, it can be installed in a variety of Linux distributions and used for wireless network auditing and patching. It allows you to crack WEP/WPA/WPA2 wireless network passwords.

9. Nessus

Nessus is a security scanning tool that is used to identify vulnerabilities in systems and applications. It can be used to scan for vulnerabilities in both local and remote systems. Nessus is a popular choice for security professionals because it is easy to use and provides comprehensive results.

Malware, unpatched software, and other vulnerabilities are all easily recognisable and easily fixed. Also, you can carry out security-related tasks like network mapping and port scanning.

You can use the tool to do both credentialed and non-credentialed scans. As a result, the depth vulnerabilities will finally emerge. It may also apply to network devices such as servers, virtualization platforms, and endpoints.

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