What is Password Cracking in Cyber Security

What is password cracking in cyber security?

A password crack is a process of identifying a forgotten or unknown password to a computer or network resource by means of an application program. A threat actor can also use it to gain unauthorized access to resources.

Password crackers use various techniques to recover passwords. Often, passwords will be cracked by comparing a list of words or by using an algorithm to guess them repeatedly.

Several reasons can be given for password cracking, but the most malign reason is in order to gain unauthorized access to a computer without the computer owner's knowledge. Cybercrime is the result of this, such as password theft for the purpose of accessing banking information.

In today's world, there are password cracking tools that aren't only used for nefarious purposes. They compare stored passwords against word lists or use algorithms to create. Let's start with a definition of password cracking before we get into details.

The act of cracking a password involves recovering it from a computer or from the data it transmits. The method doesn't have to be complicated. It is also possible to crack passwords through a brute-force attack that goes through every possible combination.

Hacking a database that stores a password in plaintext gives an attacker access to everything associated with the account. Nowadays, most passwords are stored using a key derivation function (KDF). A hash-version of the password is created by running the password through a one-way encryption cipher. The hash-version of the password is stored on the server. so this was all about What is Password Cracking in Cyber Security. now, let's move to the next part how to crack it.

Password Cracking Techniques:

Brute force:

A predetermined number of combinations of characters are manipulated until the combination that matches the password is found.

Phishing:

An email attachment or link containing malware is used in phishing to lure users into clicking on it. This usually involves sending a letter in a form of an official-looking email that warns to act before it is too late

Dictionary attack:

The method involves comparing a wordlist with the passwords of users.

Rainbow table attack:

Makes use of pre-computed hashes. In our example, we'll assume that our database stores passwords as MD5 hashes. In a separate database, we can store MD5 hashes of commonly used passwords. In this database, we can compare the password hash we have with the hashes stored in the database. If the password hash matches the one in the database, we have the password.

Malware:

Malware such as keyloggers, which track keystrokes, or screen scrapers, which take screenshots, are a similar means to gain access to passwords without using a password cracking tool. Instead, they use malware such as phishing and malware called malware.

Guess:

A guessing method, as its name suggests, uses passwords such as qwerty, admin, password, etc., that are commonly used or set as default passwords. If the user don't change these default passwords or choose them carelessly, they are more likely to be compromised.

Password Cracking Tools:

1] Hydra

2] ophcrack

3] john the ripper

4] socialbox

5] airmon-ng

6] hashcat

7] pixiewps

8] ncrack

9] crunch

10] cupp

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