What is Password Cracking?

Modern-day living is digital, and with this, passwords have become the keys to our virtual lives. The more dependent people become on them, the more passwords also become one of the favorite targets of malicious attackers. These attackers think of ingenious ways to crack a password and gain entry into the system. Password cracking, commonly referred to as password hacking, is defined as working out or retrieving passwords from stored or transmitted data.

It is through insight into the intricacies of password cracking that individuals or any other organization can be better equipped to take steps toward digital safety and reduce vulnerabilities against undesired access.

What does password cracking mean?

Password cracking is the procedure of recovering passwords from records that are stored in or transmitted by a laptop device. Password cracking is one method that enables an unauthorized user to gain access to systems, accounts, or networks by determining the password through guessing, knowing the algorithms, or decrypting it. 

Key Terminology Associated With Password Cracking:

Password Cracking

The activity is performed by a cracker whereby attempts to break passwords by regaining the plaintext password through each hash value.

Brute Force Attack

An activity to gain information like a password or user PIN by trying many passwords or PINs.

Dictionary Attack

It is a type of brute force attack where an attacker uses lists of normal, alongside sentences to break the passwords.

Rainbow Table Attack

A precomputed table for reversing conventional cryptographic hash functions, usually for cracking password hashes.

Phishing

A fraudulent means of communication that appears to be from a reputable source, usually email, to get the victim to reveal personally sensitive information, such as passwords.

How Password Cracking Works?

Cracking a password relies on software tools that are sometimes used to automate the process of guessing passwords. Such tools might exploit several techniques in generating possible password guesses, such as brute-force attacks, dictionary attacks, or rainbow table attacks.

These are just shortened versions of what the process of each one involves. Bruteforce software just tries all the combinations it can until one works. Then, there are dictionary attacks, which are like they sound, a computer system has a list of the most popular words and phrases in a given language; the software will match those up. Last, rainbow table attacks use these precomputed password tables to turn the hash into clear text.

Phishing attacks, on the other hand, rely on social engineering techniques that compromise the password’s integrity by trying to get users to reveal them unethically. Attackers may spoof emails or cleverly craft fake websites that are strikingly similar to achieve the objective of obtaining sensitive information.

Strategy for Preventive Measures Against Password Cracking

Requires strong and distinct passwords

This is one of the strongest methods to avoid the hacking of passwords; hence, different accounts should have strong and other passwords. Long, complicated passwords not containing any common words and personal information should be used.

Multi-factor authentication

In multi-factor authentication, there are two steps: providing them yet another means of authenticating, such as a code on their phone, and implementing password encryption, which bars the entry of unauthorized people into an account.

Updation of Passwords

Password cracking may involve changing the password regularly, as an attacker will have a hard time guessing or hacking the correct password. You can learn a lot in an ethical hacking course.

How do you generate a strong password?

Common words for password

Using common words or phrases in passwords yields to easy guessing or attack through common dictionary-based attacks.

Sequential or Repeated characters in the password

Passwords containing sequential or repeated characters, such as “123456” or “a,” would also be relatively easier to crack.

Steer-clear of Personal data

Information about a person’s name, birth date, or address should not be used as a password since it only makes it easier for attackers.

Short and Simple Passphrases for Creating a Password

In place of a tiny and complicated password, a long yet complicated passphrase, such as “correct horse battery staple,” can be more secure.

Do not reuse passwords

A password should differ on each account to minimize the ability of an attacker to access other accounts if one password is compromised.

5 Common Methods of Cracking Passwords

Brute Force Attacks

This password-cracking technique tries out all possible combinations of characters in sequence until the right one is reached. This is conducted when the password is not known, and nothing about it is given to the attacker.

The different steps that generally make up this kind of brute force attack are as follows:

• Generating Possible Passwords: The attacker generates all possible combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols up to a certain length.
• Trying Each Password: Later, the program used each of the passwords generated, in trying to log into the target system or account.
• When encountering a correct password, the checking process is successful. It gives the attacker access to the system or account, while it repeats until all possible combinations are tried in the other case.

Dictionary Attacks

Dictionary attacks are techniques for cracking passwords. They use a pre-compiled list of words, phrases, or probable passwords. These are words that the owner of the target machine might have used. The assumption is that most people use common or easily guessable passwords. These passwords are often found in a dictionary.

A dictionary attack normally follows these steps:

• Dictionary attacks—an attacker who gathers a list of words, common phrases, or common passwords likely to be used by the target, either from a source or on their own. 
• The program will then try every word or phrase in the dictionary on the target system or account in attempting to log in.
• Success Test: If the password in use is the correct one, then the attacker has gained access to such an account or system. If not, then the process will continue until it exhausts all the dictionary entries.

Rainbow Table Attacks

Rainbow table attacks are a type of password-cracking technique that leverages the use of precomputed tables intended as a derivative of cryptographic hash functions to reverse it back into the original password. Simply put, this technique works on the presumption that most passwords can be recuperated by pre-evaluating the hash values for a large set of feasible passwords and storing the outcomes in a table.

A typical process for a rainbow table attack is:

• Hash Values Precompilation: A large number of possible passwords are hashed to hash values and stored in some tables. Since it is not feasible to store pre-computed hash values for all possible passwords, the attacker uses “rainbow chains” to reduce the amount of storage required. 
• Comparing Hash Values: When the attacker wants to crack a password, they will use the Hash value of the target password and compare it to those values stored in the Rainbow Table.
• Recovering the Password: It is through the matching that the attacker uses the corresponding password in the table to access the system or account.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are a form of social engineering. Users are deceived into giving away their passwords or other sensitive information. Hackers do this through fake emails, websites, or other types of communication. This appears legitimate and tricks unsuspecting people into falling into the trap.

The process of a phishing attack goes through the following steps:

• Fake Communication Creation: The attacker creates a message that looks like it came from a real institution, such as a bank, government agency, or corporation. This message could be an email, a website, or another form of communication.
• Luring the Victim: The attacker sends a fake message to the victim. The message is often socially engineered to make the victim believe it is real and that they need to provide their password or other sensitive information.
• Gaining Access to a Password: If the victim falls for the trick and provides their password or other sensitive information, the attacker can use this information to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s accounts or systems.

Social Engineering Attacks

Social engineering attacks are those that manipulate people to disclose their passwords and other sensitive information. This can be done through many techniques, such as impersonating, pretexting, or even physical threats.

The process involved in a social engineering attack goes like this:

• Reconnaissance: An attacker collects information about the victim. This may include the name, job title, or other personal details. The attacker uses this information to gain trust and confidence.
• Building Trust: The attacker builds trust with the target. They might pretend to be a legitimate authority figure or claim to be in a position of trust.
• Password Acquisition: The attacker uses the target’s trust to obtain passwords or other sensitive information. They employ various methods to get the target to disclose this information.

Conclusion

Password cracking is a serious threat to computer systems and networks. Users can prevent password cracking by using strong, unique passwords. Multi-factor authentication also protects accounts from unauthorized access. Regularly updating passwords adds another layer of security.

Frequently Asked Questions on Password Cracking

What is password cracking in hacking?

Password cracking is the process of converting cryptic password data back into its original, understandable format. This data can be obtained from a computer system or during transmission. Hackers mainly use password cracking for unauthorized access to systems, networks, or accounts. They target places where password encryption cannot be broken. Common types of password cracking include brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, rainbow table attacks, phishing, and social engineering.

What is ethical hacking and cracking?

Ethical hacking uses the same techniques as malicious hackers. However, it is done with the system owner’s permission and cooperation. The goal is to find and fix security vulnerabilities. Ethical hacking assessments may include password cracking as one of its means of testing whether a system’s passwords are strong enough.

Can hackers crack your password?

Yes, they would crack open your weak password or one that could have been compromised, using those same credentials to get unauthorized access to your accounts or systems.

What passwords do hackers use?

Hackers use the usual terms, idioms, and personal information as passwords. Previously breached passwords are also used by the hackers. They even use sophisticated automated tools that generate different sets of potential passwords and test them out.

How do hackers crack weak passwords?

Hackers use numerous ways to crack a weak password, such as through brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, rainbow table attacks, phishing, and not forgetting social engineering. Ways to prevent password cracking are to use strong, unique passwords and enable multi-factor authentication.