Password cracking
Recovering passwords stored or transmitted by computer systems / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In cryptanalysis and computer security, password cracking is the process of recovering passwords[1] from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system in scrambled form. A common approach (brute-force attack) is to repeatedly try guesses for the password and to check them against an available cryptographic hash of the password.[2] 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.[3]
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 system administrators 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.