Password Cracking
Password cracking is the process of recovering passwords from data stored or transmitted by computer systems. It's often associated with cybersecurity attacks but is also used by security professionals to test the strength of passwords.
Brute Force Attack: This method involves trying all possible combinations of characters until the correct password is found. It's time-consuming and computationally expensive but guaranteed to succeed eventually.
Dictionary Attack: Uses a precompiled list of commonly used passwords and phrases. The attacker tries each word in the list against the target account. It's faster than brute force because it targets likely passwords.
Rainbow Table Attack: Uses precomputed tables of hash values and their corresponding plaintext passwords. The attacker compares the hash of the target password against the table to find a match.
Phishing: Involves tricking users into revealing their passwords through fake websites, emails, or messages that appear legitimate. Social Engineering: Manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information, such as passwords, by exploiting human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities.
Credential Stuffing: Involves using credentials obtained from previous data breaches to attempt to gain access to multiple accounts. Since many users reuse passwords across sites, this method can be effective.
Applications and Prevention
- Penetration Testing: Security professionals use password cracking techniques to identify weak passwords and improve security.
- Cyber Attacks: Hackers use these methods to gain unauthorized access to systems and steal sensitive information.
To prevent password cracking, it's essential to use strong, unique passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and regularly update passwords. Password managers can also help generate and store complex passwords securely.
Real-World Usage:
In early 2024, attackers compromised hundreds of WordPress websites and transformed them into command-and-control servers. These hacked sites forced visitors' browsers to perform password-cracking attacks on other WordPress sites.
Attack Details:
Malicious JavaScript: The attackers embedded malicious JavaScript on the compromised sites. When visitors accessed these sites, their browsers unknowingly executed the script1.
Password Cracking: The script attempted to log in to thousands of other WordPress sites using common passwords. This method, known as a distributed password-cracking attack, leveraged the browsers of real visitors to perform the attacks1.
Scale: The attack affected thousands of visitor computers and targeted numerous WordPress domains. The malicious JavaScript script was hosted on hundreds of infected sites.
Impact:
This attack highlighted the importance of securing websites against vulnerabilities and the potential risks of distributed password-cracking techniques. It also underscored the need for strong, unique passwords and regular security updates to protect against such threats.
Password Cracking Tools
- HashCat - Advance password recovery.
- John The Ripper - Open Source password security auditing and password recovery tool available for many operating systems.