Posts Tagged "Brute Force Hacking"

Some hacking methods require a certain measure of tech knowledge and skill. However, brute force hacking doesn’t. If you can follow directions, you can learn how to use a password cracking software tool. You can either buy one or download an open source tool for free. In addition, if you need pointers on brute force hacking your way into servers, there are plenty of online communities willing to help you out. This is why brute force hacking continues to be a popular method.

The method is crude because the software attempts to guess login passwords. This is done using lists of commonly used passwords as well as trying different combinations of names (first names and last names), dates (birth dates and historical dates), and words from a dictionary list.

For more random passwords, the software permutates through all possible combinations of numbers, letters, and other characters. For lengthy and complex random passwords, the brute force method may require years of permutation. However, this isn’t generally a problem for hackers because many people use simple and readily hacked passwords. In fact the most popular passwords are entries such as 123456, qwerty, and 111111.

These ridiculous passwords indicate the lax attitudes many people have towards security. They’re a way of getting around the need to memorize a password. As brute force tools get better, secure passwords must get longer. It isn’t easy to remember random passwords and regularly change them (which means recommitting them to memory multiple times). While there are excellent mnemonic methods for memorizing strong passwords, few people have the interest or motivation to learn and use them.

If your business requires strong passwords of its employees, locks out repeated login attempts, or uses two-factor authentication, brute force hackers can get around this if you keep sensitive information on hidden web pages. They need only use their tools to guess the URL of the hidden page in much the same way that they guess passwords. They keep trying until a page shows up that isn’t a 404 error.

Brute force hacking is just one of the many cyber threats your business may face. Contact us to learn how WHOA.com’s managed security services can protect your business.

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