Password cracking

<p>In cryptanalysis and <a href="/facts/Computer_security/7E5dIy7G">computer security</a>, password cracking is the process of guessing passwords protecting a <a href="/facts/Computer_system/SQe1aK05">computer system</a>. A common approach (<a href="/facts/Brute-force_attack/TXl8pkfb">brute-force attack</a>) is to repeatedly try guesses for the password and to check them against an available <a href="/facts/Cryptographic_hash_function/cuxkgbST">cryptographic hash</a> of the password. Another type of approach is password spraying, which is often automated and occurs slowly over time in order to remain undetected, using a list of common passwords.
</p><p>The purpose of password cracking might be to help a user recover a forgotten password (due to the fact that installing an entirely new password would involve System Administration privileges), to gain unauthorized access to a system, or to act as a preventive measure whereby <a href="/facts/System_administrator/zNhThrh9">system administrators</a> check for easily crackable passwords. On a file-by-file basis, password cracking is utilized to gain access to digital evidence to which a judge has allowed access, when a particular file's permissions restricted.
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Password cracking open-in-new

Password cracking