Locked What are password cracking techniques ?

[dEEpEst]

What are password cracking techniques ?

Password crackers use two primary methods to identify correct passwords: brute-force and dictionary attacks. However, there are plenty of other password cracking methods, including the following:

Brute force : This attack runs through combinations of characters of a predetermined length until it finds the combination that matches the password.

Dictionary search : Here, a password cracker searches each word in the dictionary for the correct password. Password dictionaries exist for a variety of topics and combinations of topics, including politics, movies and music groups.

Phishing : These attacks are used to gain access to user passwords without the use of a password cracking tool. Instead, a user is fooled into clicking on an email attachment. From here, the attachment could install malware or prompt the user to use their email to sign into a false version of a website, revealing their password.

Malware : Similar to phishing, using malware is another method of gaining unauthored access to passwords without the use of a password cracking tool. Malware such as keyloggers, which track keystrokes, or screen scrapers, which take screenshots, are used instead.

Rainbow attack : This approach involves using different words from the original password in order to generate other possible passwords. Malicious actors can keep a list called a rainbow table with them. This list contains leaked and previously cracked passwords, which will make the overall password cracking method more effective.

Guessing : An attacker may be able to guess a password without the use of tools. If the threat actor has enough information about the victim or the victim is using a common enough password, they may be able to come up with the correct characters.

- Some password cracking programs may use hybrid attack methodologies where they search for combinations of dictionary entries and numbers or special characters. For example, a password cracker may search for ants01, ants02, ants03, etc. This can be helpful when users have been advised to include a number in their password.