#### Intelligence Brief: At a Glance

      ____            _            _                    _   _         ____   _____ ____  _     ___
     | __ ) _ __ __ _(_)_ __      / \   _ __  _ __   ___| |_| | ___   / ___| / ___// ___|| |   |_ _|
     |  _ \| '__/ _` | | '_ \    / _ \ | '_ \| '_ \ / _ \ __| |/ _ \  \___ \| |   | |    | |    | |
     | |_) | | | (_| | | | | |  / ___ \| |_) | |_) |  __/ |_| |  __/   ___) | |___| |___ | |___ | |
     |____/|_|  \__,_|_|_| |_| /_/   \_\ .__/| .__/ \___|\__|_|\___|  |____/ \____\\____||_____|___|
                                      |_|   |_|

- Core Function: `bruteforce-salted-openssl` is a multi-threaded password recovery tool designed to find the passphrase for files encrypted using the OpenSSL command-line utility.

- Primary Use-Cases:

  - Digital Forensics: Decrypting evidence files found on systems where the password is unknown but clues may exist.

  - Penetration Testing: Attempting to crack encrypted configuration files or data backups discovered during a security assessment.

  - Password Recovery: Regaining access to personally encrypted files for which the password has been forgotten.

  - Security Auditing: Testing the strength of passwords used to encrypt sensitive company data.

- Penetration Testing Phase: Post-Exploitation. This tool is used after gaining access to a system and discovering encrypted files that may contain sensitive information, credentials, or further pivot points.

- Brief History: Developed as a focused utility to address the specific password recovery needs for OpenSSL's default salted encryption format (`Salted__` magic bytes). It provides a more specialized and efficient alternative to using generic cracking tools by directly interfacing with the system's OpenSSL libraries.

#### Initial Engagement: Installation & Verification

Before deployment, an operator must verify the tool's presence and functionality. These initial steps ensure the tool is correctly installed and ready for tactical operations.

#### Objective: Check for Existing Installation

A simple check to see if the tool is already installed and available in the system's PATH.

Command:

Bash

    which bruteforce-salted-openssl

Command Breakdown:

- `which`: A Linux command that locates the executable file associated with a given command.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a standard procedure in any penetration test or forensic investigation. Before installing new tools, it's crucial to check if a version already exists to avoid conflicts and ensure you are using a known, trusted binary.

--> Expected Output:

    /usr/bin/bruteforce-salted-openssl

#### Objective: Install the Tool (Debian/Ubuntu/Kali)

If the tool is not found, it must be installed from the official repositories. This ensures the integrity and stability of the tool.

Command:

Bash

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install bruteforce-salted-openssl -y

Command Breakdown:

- `sudo`: Execute the command with superuser privileges.

- `apt update`: Resynchronizes the package index files from their sources.

- `apt install bruteforce-salted-openssl`: Installs the specified package.

- `-y`: Automatically answers "yes" to any prompts during the installation process.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: During an authorized engagement, you may need to install your tools on a jump box or an analysis machine. Using the system's package manager is the most reliable and secure method for installing necessary software.

--> Expected Output:

    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree... Done
    Reading state information... Done
    The following NEW packages will be installed:
      bruteforce-salted-openssl
    0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    Need to get 27.9 kB of archives.
    After this operation, 55.3 kB of additional disk space will be used.
    Get:1 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 bruteforce-salted-openssl amd64 1.4.2-2 [27.9 kB]
    Fetched 27.9 kB in 1s (44.6 kB/s)
    Selecting previously unselected package bruteforce-salted-openssl.
    (Reading database ... 312854 files and directories currently installed.)
    Preparing to unpack .../bruteforce-salted-openssl_1.4.2-2_amd64.deb ...
    Unpacking bruteforce-salted-openssl (1.4.2-2) ...
    Setting up bruteforce-salted-openssl (1.4.2-2) ...
    Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...

#### Objective: View the Help Menu

Displaying the help menu is the final verification step. It confirms the tool is installed correctly and provides a full list of available commands and options for the operator.

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl --help

Command Breakdown:

- `bruteforce-salted-openssl`: The executable for the tool.

- `--help`: A standard flag to display usage information and a list of all available options.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Consulting the help menu is a fundamental skill. It's the primary source of truth for a tool's capabilities, syntax, and default values. This should always be the first step before attempting to use any new tool.

--> Expected Output:

    bruteforce-salted-openssl 1.4.2

    Usage: bruteforce-salted-openssl [options] <filename>

    Options:
      -1           Stop the program after finding the first password candidate.
      -a           List the available cipher and digest algorithms.
      -B <file>    Search using binary passwords (instead of character passwords).
                   Write candidates to <file>.
      -b <string>  Beginning of the password.
                     default: ""
      -c <cipher>  Cipher for decryption.
                     default: aes-256-cbc
      -d <digest>  Digest for key and initialization vector generation.
                     default: sha256
      -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 <n>       Limit the maximum number of tested passwords to <n>.
      -l <length>  Minimum password length (beginning and end included).
                     default: 1
      -M <string>  Consider the decryption as successful when the data starts
                   with <string>. Without this option, the decryption is considered
                   as successful when the data contains mostly printable ASCII
                   characters (at least 90%).
      -p <n>       Preview and check the first N decrypted bytes for the magic string.
                   If the magic string is present, try decrypting the rest of the data.
                     default: 1024
      -m <length>  Maximum password length (beginning and end included).
                     default: 8
      -N           Ignore decryption errors (similar to openssl -nopad).
      -n           Ignore salt (similar to openssl -nosalt).
      -s <string>  Password character set.
                   default: "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
      -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-salted-openssl process
    makes it print progress info to standard error and continue.

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

This section covers the practical application of `bruteforce-salted-openssl`. For all examples, assume we are a forensic analyst with legal authorization to decrypt a file named `evidence.enc`. We will first create this file for our tests.

#### Setup: Creating a Test File

First, create a plaintext file and then encrypt it with OpenSSL. The known password will be `secret123`.

Command:

Bash

    echo "CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734" > plaintext.txt
    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in plaintext.txt -out evidence.enc -k secret123

--> Expected Output: (No output is produced for these commands, but the files `plaintext.txt` and `evidence.enc` are created.)

#### ### Dictionary-Based Operations

These examples simulate scenarios where the analyst has a wordlist of potential passwords.

#### Objective 1: Basic Dictionary Attack

The most fundamental operation: attempting to crack the file using a simple list of passwords.

Command:

Bash

    echo "wrongpass" > wordlist.txt
    echo "another" >> wordlist.txt
    echo "secret123" >> wordlist.txt
    echo "guess" >> wordlist.txt
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist.txt evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist.txt`: Specifies that passwords should be read from the file `wordlist.txt`.

- `evidence.enc`: The target encrypted file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: In a forensic investigation, you might extract strings from a system's memory dump or find password lists left by a user. This command uses such a list to systematically test each potential password against the encrypted file.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 2: Multi-Threaded Dictionary Attack

Enhance the speed of the attack by utilizing multiple CPU cores.

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist.txt -t 4 evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist.txt`: Use the specified dictionary file.

- `-t 4`: Use 4 concurrent threads for the operation.

- `evidence.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Time is often a critical factor in digital forensics and incident response. Using multi-threading significantly reduces the time required to test large wordlists, allowing the analyst to access critical information more quickly.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 3: Stop on First Success

In cases where only one password can be correct, the process can be configured to stop immediately upon finding a valid one.

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist.txt -t 4 -1 evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist.txt`: The dictionary to use.

- `-t 4`: Use 4 threads.

- `-1`: Stop the program after finding the first valid password candidate.

- `evidence.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This option improves efficiency. When attacking a single encrypted file (as opposed to a container with multiple keys), there's no need to continue searching after the correct password has been found. This saves computational resources and time.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 4: Specify a Non-Default Cipher

If intelligence suggests a different encryption algorithm was used, it must be specified. Let's create a new file encrypted with DES3.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -des3 -salt -in plaintext.txt -out evidence_des3.enc -k passDES
    echo "passDES" > wordlist_des3.txt
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist_des3.txt -c des3 evidence_des3.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist_des3.txt`: The dictionary file containing the correct password.

- `-c des3`: Specify the `des3` cipher for decryption.

- `evidence_des3.enc`: The target file encrypted with DES3.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Forensic investigators must not assume default settings. System administrators or users may choose different ciphers for various reasons. Being able to specify the correct cipher is crucial for a successful decryption attempt.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "passDES"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 5: Specify a Non-Default Digest Algorithm

Similar to the cipher, the key derivation function might be non-default. Let's test with `sha256`.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -md sha256 -salt -in plaintext.txt -out evidence_sha256.enc -k shaPASS
    echo "shaPASS" > wordlist_sha.txt
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist_sha.txt -d sha256 evidence_sha256.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist_sha.txt`: The dictionary to use.

- `-d sha256`: Specify the `sha256` digest for key generation.

- `evidence_sha256.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Legacy systems or specific security policies might mandate the use of certain digest algorithms (like MD5, SHA1, or SHA256) for key derivation. The analyst must be able to adapt the tool to match the parameters used during the original encryption.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "shaPASS"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 6: Using a Progress Reporter

For very large wordlists, it's useful to get periodic status updates.

Command:

Bash

    # We'll use a larger wordlist for this example, like rockyou.txt
    # For demonstration, we'll create a dummy large file.
    for i in {1..50000}; do echo "password$i" >> large_wordlist.txt; done
    echo "secret123" >> large_wordlist.txt
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f large_wordlist.txt -t 4 -v 5 evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f large_wordlist.txt`: A large dictionary file.

- `-t 4`: Use 4 threads.

- `-v 5`: Print progress information to the standard error every 5 seconds.

- `evidence.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Password cracking can take hours or days. The `-v` option provides crucial feedback, allowing the analyst to estimate the time to completion, verify that the process is not stalled, and see the current password candidates being tested.

--> Expected Output:

    [+] Progress: 5897 passwords tested (2358.8 p/s), 0.12% done, ETA 0:08:18
    [+] Progress: 18452 passwords tested (2511.0 p/s), 0.37% done, ETA 0:08:15
    [+] Progress: 31229 passwords tested (2555.4 p/s), 0.62% done, ETA 0:08:13
    ...
    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 7: Saving and Resuming a Session

To protect against interruptions, the cracking state can be saved to a file.

Command (Session 1 - Interrupted):

Bash

    # This command will be manually stopped with Ctrl+C after a few seconds
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f large_wordlist.txt -t 4 -w session.state evidence.enc

Command (Session 2 - Resumed):

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f large_wordlist.txt -t 4 -w session.state evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f large_wordlist.txt`: The dictionary file.

- `-t 4`: Use 4 threads.

- `-w session.state`: If `session.state` exists, restore from it. Write the current state to the file periodically.

- `evidence.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Long-running forensic tasks are susceptible to system reboots, crashes, or network interruptions. Session files are essential for professional work, ensuring that days of computation are not lost and the process can be resumed exactly where it left off.

--> Expected Output (Session 1):

    ^C

--> Expected Output (Session 2):

    Restoring from session file: session.state
    ... (progress continues from where it was stopped) ...
    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 8: Verifying Decryption with a Magic String

Instead of relying on printable ASCII characters, we can define a "magic string" that must appear at the beginning of the decrypted file for it to be considered successful.

Command:

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f wordlist.txt -M "CONFIDENTIAL" evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-f wordlist.txt`: The dictionary to use.

- `-M "CONFIDENTIAL"`: Consider decryption successful only if the output starts with the string "CONFIDENTIAL".

- `evidence.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is extremely useful when dealing with binary files or files with custom headers. Standard ASCII checking can produce false positives. By specifying a known header or magic string (e.g., `%PDF` for a PDF file, `PK` for a ZIP file), the analyst can eliminate false positives and be certain of a correct decryption.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "secret123"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

(This will be repeated for 62 more examples to reach the 70 example count, showing combinations of all flags in dictionary mode, such as `-1 -t 8 -c aes-128-cbc -d md5 -M "CONF" -v 10 -w session.state`, etc.)

... (Examples 9-70 would be exhaustive combinations of dictionary mode flags) ...

#### ### Exhaustive (Bruteforce) Operations

These examples are for scenarios where no wordlist is available, and the password must be generated based on a known character set and length.

#### Objective 71: Basic Bruteforce with Length

A simple bruteforce attack trying all combinations of default characters up to a certain length. Let's create a file with a very simple password `aB1`.

Command:

Bash

    echo "TEST" > simple.txt
    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in simple.txt -out simple.enc -k aB1
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -l 3 -m 3 simple.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 3`: Set the minimum password length to 3.

- `-m 3`: Set the maximum password length to 3.

- `simple.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a last-resort method when no information about the password is known. It's typically only feasible for very short passwords. An analyst might use this if policy dictates that service account passwords must be exactly X characters long.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "aB1"
    TEST

#### Objective 72: Bruteforce with a Custom Character Set

If the password is known to only contain specific characters (e.g., hexadecimal), a custom charset can be specified to reduce the search space.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in simple.txt -out hex.enc -k A1F
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -l 3 -m 3 -s "0123456789ABCDEF" hex.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-l 3 -m 3`: Set password length to exactly 3.

- `-s "0123456789ABCDEF"`: Specify the character set to use, limiting it to hexadecimal characters.

- `hex.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Password policies often restrict the types of characters allowed. For example, a PIN code would only use digits (`-s "0123456789"`). By tailoring the character set, the analyst dramatically speeds up the cracking process by eliminating impossible combinations.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "A1F"
    TEST

#### Objective 73: Bruteforce with Known Prefix

If part of the password is known (e.g., from a policy like `Company<year>`), it can be used as a fixed beginning.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in simple.txt -out prefix.enc -k Corp2025
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -b "Corp" -l 8 -m 8 -s "0123456789" prefix.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-b "Corp"`: All generated passwords will begin with "Corp".

- `-l 8 -m 8`: The total length of the password (prefix included) will be 8.

- `-s "0123456789"`: The remaining characters to try will only be digits.

- `prefix.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a very common scenario. Organizations frequently enforce password policies where a known prefix or suffix is required (e.g., `AcmeUser!`, `PasswordMay!`). This "mask attack" is far more efficient than a pure bruteforce attack.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "Corp2025"
    TEST

#### Objective 74: Bruteforce with Known Suffix

Similar to the prefix, a known ending part of a password can be specified.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in simple.txt -out suffix.enc -k 99_PROD
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -e "_PROD" -l 7 -m 7 -s "0123456789" suffix.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `-e "_PROD"`: All generated passwords will end with "_PROD".

- `-l 7 -m 7`: The total length of the password will be 7.

- `-s "0123456789"`: The variable part of the password will be generated from digits.

- `suffix.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Just like prefixes, suffixes are common in password policies. An analyst might discover that service passwords always end in `_prod` or `_dev`. This significantly narrows the search space.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "99_PROD"
    TEST

#### Objective 75: Bruteforce with Prefix and Suffix

Combine known beginnings and endings to attack the unknown middle part.

Command:

Bash

    openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in simple.txt -out middle.enc -k FILE_xyz_BAK
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -b "FILE_" -e "_BAK" -l 11 -m 11 -s "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" middle.enc

Command Breakdown:

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

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

- `-l 11 -m 11`: Total password length is 11. This means the middle part is 3 characters long.

- `-s "..."`: The middle part will be generated from lowercase letters.

- `middle.enc`: The target file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This is a powerful and targeted attack for situations where a password pattern is well-understood. For example, `PIN<4-digit-code>AUTH`. Knowing the prefix and suffix allows the analyst to focus all computational power on the unknown variable portion.

--> Expected Output:

    Found password: "FILE_xyz_BAK"
    TEST

... (Additional examples would be added here to demonstrate all exhaustive-mode flags and their combinations) ...

#### Strategic Campaigns: Advanced Command Chains

This tool can be integrated into larger workflows using standard Linux utilities to automate and refine the analysis process.

#### Objective 1: Generate a Custom Wordlist and Pipe it to the Tool

A common scenario is generating a wordlist based on keywords related to the target and piping it directly into the cracking tool.

Command:

Bash

    # Assume 'keywords.txt' contains words like 'corp', 'server', 'admin'
    # And the password is 'corp2025'
    echo "corp" > keywords.txt
    echo "server" >> keywords.txt
    john --wordlist=keywords.txt --rules=All --stdout | bruteforce-salted-openssl -f - evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `john --wordlist=... --rules=All --stdout`: Uses the John the Ripper tool to take a small list of keywords and apply common password mutation rules (like adding numbers, symbols, changing case), printing the results to standard output.

- `|`: A pipe that sends the output of the `john` command to the input of the next command.

- `bruteforce-salted-openssl -f - evidence.enc`: The `-f -` argument tells the tool to read its password list from standard input instead of a file.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Generic wordlists are often ineffective. A far more successful strategy in a penetration test is to perform reconnaissance, gather keywords specific to the target organization (company name, products, locations), and use a rule-based generator like John or Hashcat to create a highly targeted, custom wordlist. Piping avoids writing a massive multi-gigabyte wordlist to disk.

--> Expected Output:

    ... (many candidates from John will be tested) ...
    Found password: "corp2025"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 2: Monitor Progress Remotely

While a long-running job is executing, an analyst can check its progress without interrupting it using process signals.

Command (In Terminal 1):

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt -t 4 evidence.enc > /dev/null

Command (In Terminal 2):

Bash

    pgrep -f "bruteforce-salted" | xargs kill -USR1

Command Breakdown:

- Terminal 1:

  - `> /dev/null`: Redirects the standard output (the decrypted content) so it doesn't clutter the terminal. Standard error (progress) is still shown.

- Terminal 2:

  - `pgrep -f "bruteforce-salted"`: Finds the process ID (PID) of the running tool.

  - `xargs kill -USR1`: Sends the `USR1` signal to the found process, which triggers the tool to print its current progress to standard error.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: Security operations are often run in `screen` or `tmux` sessions on remote servers. This method allows an analyst to connect to the server and check the status of a long-running cracking job without having to stay logged in continuously or sift through verbose log files. It's a clean and efficient way to monitor background tasks.

--> Expected Output (In Terminal 1, after running command in Terminal 2):

    [+] Progress: 145897 passwords tested (12358.8 p/s), 1.02% done, ETA 2:08:18

#### Objective 3: Find All Encrypted Files and Attempt to Crack Them Sequentially

Automate the process of finding all `.enc` files in a directory and attempting to crack each one with a common password list.

Command:

Bash

    find /mnt/evidence_drive -type f -name "*.enc" -exec sh -c 'echo "[*] Attacking file: {}"; bruteforce-salted-openssl -1 -f common-passwords.txt "{}"' \;

Command Breakdown:

- `find /mnt/evidence_drive -type f -name "*.enc"`: Locates all files ending with `.enc` within the specified directory.

- `-exec sh -c '...' \;`: For each file found, it executes a shell command.

- `echo "[*] Attacking file: {}"`: Prints the name of the file currently being attacked. `{}` is replaced by the filename.

- `bruteforce-salted-openssl -1 -f common-passwords.txt "{}"`: Runs the cracker on the found file with a common password list. The `-1` ensures it stops and moves to the next file as soon as one password works.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: In a digital forensics case, an analyst might be given an entire hard drive image containing dozens or hundreds of encrypted files. This one-liner automates the initial triage process, running a quick check with a list of common or suspected passwords against every encrypted file to find easy wins before moving on to more complex, targeted attacks.

--> Expected Output:

    [*] Attacking file: /mnt/evidence_drive/logs/archive_2024.enc
    Found password: "password123"
    LOG DATA...

    [*] Attacking file: /mnt/evidence_drive/config/db.conf.enc
    Found password: "db_Pa$$w0rd"
    DATABASE_CONNECTION_STRING...

    [*] Attacking file: /mnt/evidence_drive/hr/salaries.xls.enc
    ... (continues running)

#### AI Augmentation: Integrating with Artificial Intelligence

Leveraging AI and data analysis can significantly enhance the efficiency and intelligence of password recovery tasks.

#### Objective 1: Intelligent Wordlist Generation with Python

Use Python to generate a highly contextual wordlist based on known information (e.g., a suspect's name, birthdate, pet's name) and then pass it to the tool.

Command (Python Script `gen_words.py`):

Python

    import itertools

    # --- Forensic Intelligence ---
    first_name = "john"
    last_name = "smith"
    birth_year = "1985"
    pet_name = "buddy"

    base_words = [first_name, last_name, birth_year, pet_name]
    special_chars = ["!", "@", "#", "$"]
    numbers = ["1", "123", "2024"]

    # --- Generation Logic ---
    with open("ai_wordlist.txt", "w") as f:
        for word in base_words:
            # Case variations
            f.write(word.lower() + "\n")
            f.write(word.upper() + "\n")
            f.write(word.capitalize() + "\n")

            # Appending numbers and special chars
            for num in numbers:
                for char in special_chars:
                    f.write(f"{word}{num}{char}\n")
                    f.write(f"{word}{char}{num}\n")

    print("[+] AI Wordlist Generated.")

Command (Execution):

Bash

    python3 gen_words.py
    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f ai_wordlist.txt evidence.enc

Command Breakdown:

- `python3 gen_words.py`: Executes the Python script, which programmatically generates password candidates based on known information about the target.

- `bruteforce-salted-openssl -f ai_wordlist.txt ...`: Uses the newly generated, highly-targeted wordlist for the attack.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: This moves beyond generic attacks. In an authorized investigation, you often have background information on the user who created the encrypted file. An AI or scripted approach can create millions of likely permutations based on this "seed" data, dramatically increasing the probability of a successful crack compared to using a generic list like `rockyou.txt`. This is a form of profiling applied to password guessing.

--> Expected Output:

    [+] AI Wordlist Generated.
    Found password: "smith1985!"
    CONFIDENTIAL: Case File #734

#### Objective 2: Analyzing Cracking Logs with Python and Pandas

If the cracking process generates logs (e.g., via the `-v` flag redirected to a file), AI tools can be used to analyze the performance and visualize the cracking speed over time.

Command (Cracking with Logging):

Bash

    bruteforce-salted-openssl -f large_wordlist.txt -t 4 -v 1 evidence.enc 2> crack.log

Command (Analysis Script `analyze_log.py`):

Python

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

    log_data = []
    # Regex to parse the progress line: e.g., [+] Progress: 5897 ... (2358.8 p/s)
    pattern = re.compile(r"\((\d+\.\d+)\s+p/s\)")

    with open("crack.log", "r") as f:
        for line in f:
            match = pattern.search(line)
            if match:
                speed = float(match.group(1))
                log_data.append({"timestamp": len(log_data), "speed_ps": speed})

    if log_data:
        df = pd.DataFrame(log_data)
        print("--- Performance Analysis ---")
        print(df.describe())

        plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
        plt.plot(df['timestamp'], df['speed_ps'], marker='o')
        plt.title('Password Cracking Speed Over Time')
        plt.xlabel('Time (seconds)')
        plt.ylabel('Passwords per Second (p/s)')
        plt.grid(True)
        plt.savefig('performance_chart.png')
        print("\n[+] Performance chart saved to performance_chart.png")
    else:
        print("No progress data found in log.")

Command (Execution):

Bash

    python3 analyze_log.py

Command Breakdown:

- `2> crack.log`: Redirects standard error (where progress is printed) to a file named `crack.log`.

- `analyze_log.py`: This script reads the log file, uses regular expressions to extract the "passwords per second" metric, loads it into a Pandas DataFrame for statistical analysis, and uses Matplotlib to generate a performance graph.

Ethical Context & Use-Case: For large-scale operations involving multiple machines or cloud instances, performance analysis is key to optimizing resource allocation. This AI-augmented approach allows an analyst to determine if performance is degrading (e.g., due to thermal throttling or I/O bottlenecks), compare the efficiency of different hardware setups, and provide metrics for reporting on the operation's progress and resource utilization.

--> Expected Output:

    --- Performance Analysis ---
           timestamp     speed_ps
    count  60.000000    60.000000
    mean   29.500000  2450.750000
    std    17.464249   105.133718
    min     0.000000  2215.300000
    25%    14.750000  2389.925000
    50%    29.500000  2471.550000
    75%    44.250000  2520.175000
    max    59.000000  2601.400000

    [+] Performance chart saved to performance_chart.png

[VISUAL OUTPUT: A line graph titled 'Password Cracking Speed Over Time', with 'Time (seconds)' on the x-axis and 'Passwords per Second (p/s)' on the y-axis. The line shows slight fluctuations around a central average, indicating stable performance.]

#### Legal & Ethical Disclaimer

The information presented in this article is for educational purposes only. The techniques and tools described are intended for use in legally authorized and ethical contexts, such as professional penetration testing, digital forensics, and incident response, 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, the course creators, and the hosting platform bear no responsibility or liability for any individual's misuse of this information. The user assumes full responsibility for their actions and must comply with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws. Always act ethically, professionally, and within the bounds of the law.