passwordcracking

Password cracking, sometimes written as passwordcracking, is the process of recovering plaintext passwords from data that has been stored or transmitted in hashed or encrypted form. The objective is to determine the original password so that an unauthorized user can gain access to systems or data. In security contexts, password cracking is discussed in both legitimate settings, such as penetration testing, and malicious contexts where attackers attempt to bypass authentication.

Cracking can be performed in different modes. Offline cracking, where the attacker analyzes a password database or captured hashes without interacting with the live system, benefits from significant computational power and is commonly conducted using specialized software. Online cracking involves attempting logins directly against a live system, often constrained by rate limits, account lockouts, and monitoring.

Techniques include brute-force, which tries all possible passwords; dictionary attacks, which test words from lists; and hybrid or rule-based methods that modify dictionary entries. Rainbow tables—precomputed hash chains—historically accelerated cracking but are mitigated by salting hash outputs. Modern practice often relies on GPU-accelerated processing and optimized algorithms to test large numbers of guesses quickly.

Defenses emphasize strong password storage and authentication practices: using slow, memory-hard hashing algorithms such as bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2 with a unique salt per password, implementing multi-factor authentication, applying rate limiting and account lockouts, and promoting password managers and unique credentials. Awareness of data breaches and prompt credential changes is also important.

Legality and ethics: cracking passwords without explicit authorization is illegal in most jurisdictions. Authorized penetration testing, security auditing, and incident response activities are conducted under contractual permissions and responsible disclosure practices.