#### Intelligence Brief: At a Glance

      _  _     _   _  ____  ____ _____ _   _ _   _
     | || |   | | | |/ ___|| __ )_   _| | | | | | |
     | || |_  | | | | |  _ |  _ \ | | | | | | | | |
     |__   _| | |_| | |_| || |_) || | | |_| | |_| |
        |_|    \___/ \____||____/ |_|  \___/ \___/

- Core Function: `bruteforce-luks` is a specialized command-line utility designed to discover the password for a LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup) encrypted volume through systematic password guessing.

- Primary Use-Cases:

  - Digital Forensics: Recovering access to encrypted evidence volumes when a password is unknown but partial information exists.

  - Password Recovery: Assisting users or system administrators in regaining access to encrypted data after forgetting a portion of their passphrase.

  - Security Auditing: Testing the strength of LUKS passphrases against targeted brute-force attacks within a controlled, authorized environment.

- Penetration Testing Phase: Post-Exploitation, Forensics.

- Brief History: Developed as a focused tool for the specific task of LUKS recovery, it addresses a critical niche in digital forensics and system recovery. Unlike general-purpose password crackers, its design is optimized solely for interacting with LUKS key slots, making it efficient for its intended purpose.

#### Initial Engagement: Installation & Verification

Before any operation, you must ensure the tool is correctly installed and accessible. These initial steps verify the environment and provide a baseline understanding of the tool's capabilities.

#### Objective: Verify if bruteforce-luks is Installed

Bash

    which bruteforce-luks

- Command Breakdown:

  - `which`: A standard Linux command that locates the executable file for a given command.

- Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a fundamental first step to confirm that the tool is installed and present in the system's PATH. It prevents errors from attempting to run a non-existent command. In a forensic environment, this verifies that your analysis machine is properly provisioned.

- --> Expected Output:

    /usr/bin/bruteforce-luks

#### Objective: Install bruteforce-luks on a Debian-based System

Bash

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y bruteforce-luks

- Command Breakdown:

  - `sudo`: Executes the command with superuser (root) privileges.

  - `apt update`: Refreshes the local package index with the latest information from the repositories.

  - `&&`: A logical operator that executes the second command only if the first command succeeds.

  - `apt install -y bruteforce-luks`: Installs the `bruteforce-luks` package. The `-y` flag automatically answers "yes" to any confirmation prompts.

- Ethical Context & Use-Case: This command is used to provision a new analysis workstation or update an existing one with the necessary tool. This must be performed on a system you own and are authorized to administer.

- --> Expected Output:

    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree... Done
    Reading state information... Done
    The following NEW packages will be installed:
      bruteforce-luks
    0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    Need to get 16.8 kB of archives.
    After this operation, 47.1 kB of additional disk space will be used.
    Get:1 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 bruteforce-luks amd64 1.4.0-1 [16.8 kB]
    Fetched 16.8 kB in 1s (22.2 kB/s)
    Selecting previously unselected package bruteforce-luks.
    (Reading database ... 312543 files and directories currently installed.)
    Preparing to unpack .../bruteforce-luks_1.4.0-1_amd64.deb ...
    Unpacking bruteforce-luks (1.4.0-1) ...
    Setting up bruteforce-luks (1.4.0-1) ...
    Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...

#### Objective: Display the Help and Options Menu

Bash

    bruteforce-luks --help

- Command Breakdown:

  - `bruteforce-luks`: The executable for the tool.

  - `--help`: A standard flag to display the usage information, options, and a brief description of the tool.

- Ethical Context & Use-Case: Consulting the help menu is a critical step for any ethical hacker or forensic analyst. It provides the most up-to-date and accurate information about the tool's syntax, capabilities, and limitations directly from the source. It is the foundation for constructing precise and effective commands.

- --> Expected Output:

    bruteforce-luks 1.4.0

    Usage: bruteforce-luks [options] <path to LUKS volume>

    Options:
      -b <string>  Beginning of the password.
                     default: ""
      -e <string>  End of the password.
                     default: ""
      -f <file>    Read the passwords from a file instead of generating them.
      -h           Show help and quit.
      -l <length>  Minimum password length (beginning and end included).
                     default: 1
      -m <length>  Maximum password length (beginning and end included).
                     default: 8
      -s <string>  Password character set.
                     default: "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU
                               VWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
      -t <n>       Number of threads to use.
                     default: 1
      -v <n>       Print progress info every n seconds.
      -w <file>    Restore the state of a previous session if the file exists,
                   then write the state to the file regularly (~ every minute).

    Sending a USR1 signal to a running bruteforce-luks process
    makes it print progress info to standard error and continue.

#### Tactical Operations: Core Commands & Use-Cases

This section details the practical application of `bruteforce-luks` through a comprehensive set of examples. Each scenario is designed to demonstrate a specific feature or combination of features for authorized password recovery. All operations assume you are working on a LUKS volume image named `encrypted.dd` that you have legal authorization to access.

#### Group 1: Basic Brute-Force Attacks

These examples cover fundamental brute-force attempts using varying lengths and character sets.

#### Objective: Basic Numeric Brute-Force (1-4 Digits)

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 1 -m 4 -s "0123456789" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 1`: Sets the minimum password length to 1.

- `-m 4`: Sets the maximum password length to 4.

- `-s "0123456789"`: Specifies that only numeric digits should be used to generate passwords.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The path to the target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a preliminary test used when there is a strong suspicion that the password is a short PIN or a simple number, such as a birth year or an anniversary. It's a quick, targeted attack that can yield fast results if the assumption is correct. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: 1984

#### Objective: Lowercase Alphabet Brute-Force (Length 5)

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 5 -m 5 -s "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 5`: Sets the minimum password length to 5.

- `-m 5`: Sets the maximum password length to 5, effectively fixing the length.

- `-s "..."`: Specifies the character set to only lowercase English letters.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The path to the target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: Useful in scenarios where an investigator knows the password is a single, common, lowercase word of a specific length. This narrows the search space significantly compared to a full alphanumeric character set. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: p@ssw

#### Objective: Uppercase Alphabet Brute-Force (Length 3-4)

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 3 -m 4 -s "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 3`: Minimum password length is 3.

- `-m 4`: Maximum password length is 4.

- `-s "..."`: Character set is restricted to uppercase English letters.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This command is appropriate when intelligence suggests the password might be a short acronym or abbreviation (e.g., "CIA", "NASA"). --> Expected Output:

    Password not found.

#### Objective: Alphanumeric Brute-Force (Default settings)

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. The command uses all default settings. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This runs the tool with its default parameters (length 1-8, full alphanumeric character set). It's a broad, initial attempt when no information about the password is known, but it's only feasible for very short passwords due to the massive search space. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: Test1

#### Objective: Brute-Force with a Custom Special Character Set

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 4 -m 6 -s "abc!@#$" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 4`: Minimum length of 4.

- `-m 6`: Maximum length of 6.

- `-s "abc!@#$"`: A highly restricted, custom character set.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a powerful technique when you know the password is composed of a very specific and limited set of characters. For example, if a user's password policy on other systems is known, that can inform the character set, dramatically reducing the time to crack. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: a@#c

(...Examples 6-15 covering more combinations of basic brute-force...)

#### Group 2: Mask Attacks

Mask attacks are highly efficient when parts of the password are known.

#### Objective: Known Prefix Attack

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -b "Company202" -l 11 -m 12 -s "0123456789" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-b "Company202"`: Specifies that all generated passwords must begin with "Company202".

- `-l 11`: Minimum total length (including the prefix).

- `-m 12`: Maximum total length. This means it will try "Company202" + 1 digit, and "Company202" + 2 digits.

- `-s "0123456789"`: The variable part of the password will only be numbers.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: Extremely common in corporate environments where password policies dictate a certain prefix (like a company name) followed by a variable part (like a year or number). This focuses the attack on only the unknown part of the password. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: Company2025

#### Objective: Known Suffix Attack

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -e "!#" -l 6 -m 8 -s "abcdef" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-e "!#"`: Specifies that all passwords must end with the string "!#".

- `-l 6`: Minimum total length of 6.

- `-m 8`: Maximum total length of 8.

- `-s "abcdef"`: The variable part will be composed of letters from 'a' to 'f'.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is used when a password pattern is known to have a fixed ending, such as required special characters (`!#`, `!!`, etc.). A forensic investigator might derive this pattern from other compromised passwords belonging to the same user. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: facade!#

#### Objective: Known Prefix and Suffix Attack

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -b "pass" -e "word" -l 8 -m 8 -s "123" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-b "pass"`: Password starts with "pass".

- `-e "word"`: Password ends with "word".

- `-l 8`: Minimum length is 8.

- `-m 8`: Maximum length is 8. The total length of the prefix and suffix is 8, so this will only test candidates where the middle part has a length of 0.

- `-s "123"`: Character set for the middle part. Ethical Context & Use-Case: A highly targeted attack for situations where the user forgot the middle part of a password. In this specific command, since `-l` and `-m` are 8, it will effectively test only "password", but if the length was 9, it would test "pass1word", "pass2word", and "pass3word". --> Expected Output:

    Password found: password

#### Objective: Mask Attack with Special Characters in Prefix

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -b 'Start$' -l 6 -m 7 -s "01" /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-b 'Start$'`: Specifies a prefix containing a special character. Single quotes are used to prevent the shell from interpreting the '$'.

- `-l 6`: Minimum length.

- `-m 7`: Maximum length.

- `-s "01"`: The variable part will be '0', '1', '00', '01', '10', or '11'.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: Demonstrates the importance of proper shell quoting when using special characters in masks. This is crucial for accurately defining the known parts of a password during a recovery operation. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: Start$1

(...Examples 20-30 covering more complex mask attack variations...)

#### Group 3: Dictionary Attacks

These attacks use a pre-compiled list of words instead of generating them.

#### Objective: Basic Dictionary Attack

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -f /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-f /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt`: Specifies the path to the password list (dictionary) to use. All other generation options (`-l`, `-m`, `-s`, `-b`, `-e`) are ignored.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is one of the most common and effective types of password attacks. In a forensic context, if the user is suspected of using a common or previously breached password, a dictionary attack with a list like `rockyou.txt` is a primary step. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: princess

#### Objective: Custom Dictionary Attack

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -f ./custom_wordlist.txt /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-f ./custom_wordlist.txt`: Uses a custom-generated wordlist located in the current directory.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: A forensic analyst will often generate a custom wordlist based on information gathered about the target (case details, suspect's hobbies, family names, pet names, etc.). This personalizes the attack and dramatically increases the probability of success compared to a generic dictionary. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: FluffyTheCat123

#### Objective: Dictionary Attack on a Non-Existent File

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -f ./no_such_file.txt /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-f ./no_such_file.txt`: Attempts to use a dictionary file that does not exist.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This demonstrates the tool's error handling. An analyst must always verify paths to their evidence and resources. This scenario confirms that the tool provides clear feedback when a resource is missing, preventing a silent failure. --> Expected Output:

    Error: unable to open the password file.

(...Examples 34-40 covering more dictionary attack scenarios...)

#### Group 4: Performance and Session Management

These examples focus on optimizing the attack and managing long-running sessions.

#### Objective: Multi-Threaded Brute-Force

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 6 -m 6 -t 4 /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 6 -m 6`: Tests passwords of exactly 6 characters using the default alphanumeric set.

- `-t 4`: Uses 4 concurrent threads to test passwords.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: To accelerate the password recovery process, an analyst can leverage multiple CPU cores. Using the `-t` option significantly increases the number of passwords tested per second. The optimal number of threads is typically equal to the number of available CPU cores. --> Expected Output:

    Password found: pass12

#### Objective: Periodic Progress Verbosity

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 8 -m 8 -t 4 -v 10 /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 8 -m 8`: Tests 8-character passwords.

- `-t 4`: Uses 4 threads.

- `-v 10`: Prints a progress update to the console every 10 seconds.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: For long-running attacks that could take hours or days, it's essential to monitor progress. The `-v` flag provides regular feedback on the current password being tested, the percentage complete, and the testing speed (keys per second), allowing the analyst to estimate the remaining time. --> Expected Output:

    (Fri Aug 15 18:40:00 2025) progress: 0.01%, 5432 k/s, last password: Aaaaaa9Z
    (Fri Aug 15 18:40:10 2025) progress: 0.02%, 5450 k/s, last password: AaaabDk4
    (Fri Aug 15 18:40:20 2025) progress: 0.03%, 5448 k/s, last password: AaaacVbT
    ...

#### Objective: Save and Resume a Session

Command (initial run):

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 9 -m 10 -t 8 -w session.state /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 9 -m 10`: A large search space requiring a long time.

- `-t 8`: Uses 8 threads.

- `-w session.state`: If `session.state` does not exist, it starts a new session. It will then periodically write its progress to this file.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a critical feature for any serious forensic work. Brute-force attacks can be interrupted by power outages, system reboots, or the need to pause the process. The `-w` flag ensures that the work is not lost, allowing the analyst to resume the attack from the last saved checkpoint. --> Expected Output (after some time, then CTRL+C):

    (Fri Aug 15 19:00:00 2025) progress: 0.001%, 10245 k/s, last password: aaaaaaaab
    ^C

Command (to resume):

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 9 -m 10 -t 8 -w session.state /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

--> Expected Output (on resume):

    Restoring session from file...
    (Fri Aug 15 19:05:00 2025) progress: 0.001%, 10255 k/s, last password: aaaaaaaaz
    ...

#### Objective: On-Demand Progress with USR1 Signal

Setup: First, start a long-running process in the background.

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 10 -m 10 /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd &

Command Breakdown:

- `&`: Runs the command in the background, returning the process ID (PID). --> Expected Output:

    [1] 12345

Command (in the same terminal):

Bash

    sleep 15 && kill -USR1 12345

Command Breakdown:

- `sleep 15`: Waits for 15 seconds.

- `kill -USR1 12345`: Sends the USR1 signal to the process with PID 12345. Ethical Context & Use-Case: This provides a way to get a status update from a running process without having specified the `-v` flag at the start. It's useful for checking in on backgrounded recovery tasks without having to stop and restart them. --> Expected Output (will appear in the terminal after 15 seconds):

    (Fri Aug 15 19:10:15 2025) progress: 0.0002%, 1301 k/s, last password: AaaaaaaaaS

(...Examples 45-70+ covering all remaining combinations of options, error states like targeting invalid files, permission denied errors, etc...)

#### Strategic Campaigns: Advanced Command Chains

The true power of command-line tools is realized when they are combined. Chaining `bruteforce-luks` with other utilities allows for dynamic and highly customized attack workflows.

#### Objective: Generate and Pipe a Custom Wordlist with `crunch`

Command:

Bash

    crunch 8 8 0123456789 -o START | bruteforce-luks -f /dev/stdin /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `crunch 8 8 0123456789`: Calls the `crunch` tool to generate all possible 8-character passwords composed only of digits.

- `-o START`: Instructs `crunch` to write its output to standard output (stdout).

- `|`: The pipe operator, which redirects the stdout of the `crunch` command to the standard input (stdin) of the next command.

- `bruteforce-luks -f /dev/stdin`: Runs `bruteforce-luks` using the dictionary option (`-f`).

- `/dev/stdin`: A special file representing standard input. This tells `bruteforce-luks` to read its password list from the pipe.

- `/mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd`: The target LUKS volume.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This command chain is immensely powerful and memory-efficient. Instead of first generating a potentially massive dictionary file and saving it to disk, `crunch` generates passwords on the fly and pipes them directly to `bruteforce-luks`. This is ideal for scenarios where the character set and length are known, but the resulting dictionary would be too large to store. This must only be used on volumes you are explicitly authorized to test.

--> Expected Output:

    Crunch will now generate the following amount of data: 800000000 bytes
    100000000 lines
    Crunch will now generate characters up to the given length.
    Password found: 13374269

#### Objective: Find and Attack a LUKS Volume within a Directory Tree

Command:

Bash

    find /mnt/casestorage/ -type f -name "*.dd" -exec bruteforce-luks -f /usr/share/wordlists/fasttrack.txt -t 4 {} \;

Command Breakdown:

- `find /mnt/casestorage/`: The `find` utility starts searching in the specified directory.

- `-type f`: Restricts the search to files only.

- `-name "*.dd"`: Filters the results to files ending with the `.dd` extension, a common extension for disk images.

- `-exec ... {} \;`: The execute action. For each file found, it will run the command that follows.

- `bruteforce-luks ...`: The command to be executed.

- `{}`: A placeholder that `find` replaces with the current filename it has found.

- `\;`: Terminates the `-exec` command.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: In a large-scale digital forensics case, an analyst might be presented with a hard drive containing numerous disk images. This command automates the process of locating every potential evidence file (`.dd`) and launching a dictionary attack against it. It's a significant time-saver that automates a repetitive but necessary task. Permission to access and analyze the entire `/mnt/casestorage/` directory is an absolute prerequisite.

--> Expected Output:

    Password found: password123
    Password not found.
    Password not found.
    Password found: 123456

#### Objective: Monitor Attack Progress in a Separate Log File

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 8 -m 8 -t 4 -v 5 /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd 2> progress.log & BG_PID=$! && tail -f progress.log

Command Breakdown:

- `bruteforce-luks ...`: The main attack command with a 5-second verbosity interval.

- `2> progress.log`: `bruteforce-luks` writes progress to standard error (stderr). This redirects stderr (file descriptor 2) to a file named `progress.log`.

- `&`: Puts the `bruteforce-luks` process into the background.

- `BG_PID=$!`: Captures the Process ID (PID) of the last backgrounded command into a variable `BG_PID`.

- `&&`: Executes the next command only if the previous ones were successful.

- `tail -f progress.log`: The `tail` command is used to display the last few lines of a file. The `-f` (follow) option keeps the file open and outputs new lines as they are written to `progress.log`.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This separates the attack process from its monitoring. The analyst can start a very long attack, log its progress to a file for auditing and review, and monitor it in real-time without cluttering the main terminal. This allows them to perform other tasks in the primary terminal while keeping an eye on the attack's status. It's a clean and professional way to manage long-running operations.

--> Expected Output:

    (Fri Aug 15 19:30:05 2025) progress: 0.01%, 8192 k/s, last password: AaaabCde
    (Fri Aug 15 19:30:10 2025) progress: 0.02%, 8201 k/s, last password: AaaacFgh
    (Fri Aug 15 19:30:15 2025) progress: 0.03%, 8199 k/s, last password: AaaadIjk
    ... (the output will continue to stream until the process ends or is stopped)

#### AI Augmentation: Integrating with Artificial Intelligence

Leveraging AI, particularly through scripting with Python, can transform a standard recovery attempt into an intelligent, context-aware operation. This involves pre-processing data to create smarter wordlists or post-processing logs for better analysis.

#### Objective: Generate an Intel-Driven Wordlist with Python

Scenario: An investigator has gathered intelligence about a target: the company is "AcmeCorp", the target's dog is named "Sparky", and their birth year is 1990. A Python script can generate a highly targeted wordlist based on this.

Command (Python Script - `intelligent_wordlist.py`):

Python

    import itertools

    # --- Intelligence Gathered ---
    base_words = ["acmecorp", "sparky", "password", "admin"]
    numbers = ["1990", "2024", "123", "1"]
    specials = ["!", "@", "#", "$"]
    leet_map = {'a': '@', 'o': '0', 'e': '3', 'i': '1'}

    # --- Generation Logic ---
    final_list = set()

    # 1. Base words with number suffixes
    for word in base_words:
        for num in numbers:
            final_list.add(word + num)
            final_list.add(word.capitalize() + num)

    # 2. Base words with special char suffixes
    for word in base_words:
        for char in specials:
            final_list.add(word + char)
            final_list.add(word.capitalize() + char)

    # 3. Leetspeak variations
    for word in base_words:
        leet_word = "".join(leet_map.get(char, char) for char in word)
        final_list.add(leet_word)
        final_list.add(leet_word.capitalize())

    # --- Output to file ---
    with open("ai_generated_list.txt", "w") as f:
        for item in sorted(list(final_list)):
            f.write(item + "\n")

    print("Generated ai_generated_list.txt successfully.")

Command (Execution Chain):

Bash

    python3 intelligent_wordlist.py && bruteforce-luks -f ai_generated_list.txt /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd

Command Breakdown:

- `python3 intelligent_wordlist.py`: Executes the Python script, which uses gathered intelligence to create permutations and mutations of known words, saving them to `ai_generated_list.txt`.

- `&&`: Ensures `bruteforce-luks` only runs if the Python script completes successfully.

- `bruteforce-luks -f ai_generated_list.txt ...`: Uses the newly generated, context-aware dictionary file for the attack.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This represents a significant leap from using generic dictionaries. By programmatically combining and mutating case-specific intelligence, an analyst can create a small but extremely high-probability password list. This "AI-assisted" approach respects the target's context, drastically cutting down recovery time compared to blind brute-force and increasing the chances of success. This must only be based on legally obtained information for an authorized investigation.

--> Expected Output:

    Generated ai_generated_list.txt successfully.
    Password found: @cmecorp1990

#### Objective: Analyze and Visualize Attack Speed with Python and Pandas

Scenario: An attack has been running for an hour, logging progress to `progress.log`. An analyst wants to analyze this data to check for performance consistency and estimate the time to completion.

Command (Prerequisite: Run the attack and log output):

Bash

    bruteforce-luks -l 9 -m 9 -t 8 -v 1 /mnt/evidence/encrypted.dd 2> progress.log

(After letting it run, stop it and run the analysis script.)

Command (Python Analysis Script - `analyze_log.py`):

Python

    import pandas as pd
    import re
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

    log_file = 'progress.log'
    data = []

    # Regex to parse the progress line
    # Example: (Fri Aug 15 20:00:05 2025) progress: 0.01%, 12345 k/s, last password: AaaaaaBcd
    log_pattern = re.compile(r".*progress: ([\d.]+)%, ([\d.]+) k/s,.*")

    with open(log_file, 'r') as f:
        for line in f:
            match = log_pattern.match(line)
            if match:
                percent = float(match.group(1))
                speed = float(match.group(2))
                data.append({'percent_complete': percent, 'speed_kps': speed})

    if not data:
        print("No progress data found in log file.")
        exit()

    df = pd.DataFrame(data)

    # --- Analysis ---
    average_speed = df['speed_kps'].mean()
    print("--- Performance Analysis ---")
    print(f"Average Speed: {average_speed:.2f} k/s")
    print(f"Max Speed: {df['speed_kps'].max():.2f} k/s")
    print(f"Min Speed: {df['speed_kps'].min():.2f} k/s")

    # --- Visualization ---
    df['speed_kps'].plot(kind='line', title='Attack Speed Over Time (k/s)')
    plt.xlabel("Time (in intervals)")
    plt.ylabel("Keys per Second (k/s)")
    plt.grid(True)
    plt.savefig('speed_chart.png')
    print("\nGenerated speed_chart.png for visual analysis.")

Command (Execution):

Bash

    python3 analyze_log.py

Command Breakdown:

- `python3 analyze_log.py`: Executes the analysis script.

- The script reads `progress.log`, uses regular expressions to parse the speed and completion percentage from each line, and loads it into a Pandas DataFrame.

- It then calculates and prints key statistics (average, min, max speed).

- Finally, it uses Matplotlib to generate a PNG chart visualizing the attack speed over time.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Forensic operations require meticulous documentation and reporting. This AI-augmented approach allows an analyst to move beyond simple monitoring. By analyzing performance data, they can detect potential hardware throttling, assess the efficiency of their thread count, and create professional charts for inclusion in their final report. This adds a layer of empirical analysis and professionalism to the recovery effort.

--> Expected Output:

    --- Performance Analysis ---
    Average Speed: 12451.34 k/s
    Max Speed: 12510.88 k/s
    Min Speed: 12398.45 k/s

    Generated speed_chart.png for visual analysis.
    [VISUAL OUTPUT: A line graph titled "Attack Speed Over Time (k/s)". The x-axis is "Time (in intervals)" and the y-axis is "Keys per Second (k/s)". The line shows minor fluctuations around the 12450 k/s mark, indicating stable performance.]

#### Legal & Ethical Disclaimer

The information presented in this article is for educational purposes only. The tools, techniques, and methodologies described are intended for use in legally authorized and ethical contexts, such as professional penetration testing, digital forensics, and information security auditing, where explicit, written permission has been granted by the system owner.

Unauthorized attempts to access or decrypt data on systems you do not own or have permission to test constitute a serious crime in most jurisdictions. The author, course creator, and hosting platform bear no responsibility or liability for any individual's misuse of this information. The user assumes all responsibility for their actions. Always act in a professional, ethical, and legal manner.