Password Cracking
Password Cracking
Overview
Password cracking is the process of recovering passwords from the data transmitted by a computer system or from the data stored in it. The purpose of cracking a password might be to help a user recover a forgotten or lost password, as a preventive measure by system administrators to check for easily breakable passwords, or for use by an attacker to gain unauthorized system access. Hacking often begins with password-cracking attempts. A password is a key piece of information necessary to access a system. Consequently, most attackers use password-cracking techniques to gain unauthorized access. An attacker may either crack a password manually by guessing it or use automated tools and techniques such as a dictionary or a brute-force method. Most password-cracking techniques are successful because of weak or easily guessable passwords.
Related Topics
Types of Password Attacks
Password cracking is one of the crucial stages of system hacking. Password-cracking mechanisms often exploit otherwise legal means to gain unauthorized system access, such as recovering a user's forgotten password. Classification of password attacks depends on the attacker's actions, which are of the following four types:
- Non-Electronic Attacks
- Active Online Attacks
- Passive Online Attacks
- Offline Attacks
- Non-Electronic Attacks