Effective dictionary attacks depend entirely on the quality and relevance of the wordlist. This paper outlines how to obtain, generate, and format dictionary files for use with Aircrack-ng. The primary command is:
crunch 8 8 0123456789 -o 8digit.txt # All 8-digit numeric passwords. For patterns like qwerty123 :
| Dictionary | Size (uncompressed) | Best Use Case | Download Method | |------------|--------------------|----------------|------------------| | | ~140 MB | General purpose, social passwords | Included in Kali Linux /usr/share/wordlists/ . Online: https://github.com/brannondorsey/naive-hashcat/releases/download/data/rockyou.txt | | SecLists/Passwords | ~1-4 GB | Common, leaked passwords | git clone https://github.com/danielmiessler/SecLists.git | | Weakpass (various) | 100 MB – 50+ GB | Curated by length/pattern | https://weakpass.com | | CrackStation’s wordlist | 15 GB | Large coverage | https://crackstation.net/crackstation-wordlist-password-cracking-dictionary.htm | Download Example (rockyou): wget https://github.com/brannondorsey/naive-hashcat/releases/download/data/rockyou.txt # If compressed: gunzip rockyou.txt.gz 4. Generating Custom Dictionaries When pre-made lists fail, generate targeted dictionaries. 4.1 Using crunch Creates wordlists based on character sets and length patterns.
kwp -s 1 basechars.keymap /usr/share/kwp/sequences/keypad.txt /usr/share/kwp/extra/en.base > keyboard.txt Transform a small base dictionary into millions of variations:
You can use this as a basis for a lab report, cybersecurity assignment, or personal documentation. 1. Introduction Aircrack-ng is a suite of tools for assessing Wi-Fi network security, primarily used for monitoring, attacking, testing, and cracking WEP/WPA/WPA2 keys. One of its key functionalities is dictionary-based cracking —using a wordlist of potential passphrases to recover a network’s password.
