Jun 7, 2026 12:26 AM
(This post was last modified: Jun 7, 2026 12:28 AM by Mastercarder.)
![[Image: ji0oV1f.png]](https://i.imgur.com/ji0oV1f.png)
► Introduction
One of the biggest misconceptions in cybersecurity is that attackers can simply "see" your password after a database breach.
In reality, most services store password hashes rather than actual passwords.
Understanding how password cracking works helps explain why some passwords are compromised in seconds while others remain secure for years.
► What Is A Password Hash?
A hash is a one-way mathematical function that converts data into a fixed-length string of characters.
Code
Password:
password123
Hash:
ef92b778bafe771e89245b89ecbc08a44a4e166c06659911881f383d4473e94fKey points:
• Easy to generate
• Extremely difficult to reverse
• Used to verify passwords without storing them directly
When you log in, the website hashes the password you enter and compares it to the stored hash.
If they match, access is granted.
► What Happens During A Data Breach?
Imagine a website gets compromised.
An attacker may obtain:
• Usernames
• Email addresses
• Password hashes
The attacker cannot immediately read the passwords.
Instead, they attempt to crack the stolen hashes offline by testing huge numbers of password guesses.
This allows attackers to test millions or even billions of guesses without interacting with the website itself.
► Dictionary Attacks
A dictionary attack uses large lists of common passwords.
Code
password
password123
qwerty
letmein
welcome
football
dragonEach password is hashed and compared against the stolen hashes.
If a match is found, the password is revealed.
This is why weak passwords are often cracked almost instantly.
► Brute Force Attacks
Brute force attacks systematically try every possible combination until the correct password is found.
The longer and more random the password becomes, the harder brute forcing becomes.
A password using uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols is significantly stronger than a short password using only lowercase letters.
Length is one of the most important factors in password security.
► What Are Rainbow Tables?
Rainbow tables are databases containing precomputed password hashes.
Instead of generating hashes during an attack, an attacker simply looks up the hash value.
This can dramatically speed up password recovery attempts.
Modern systems largely defend against this through salting.
► What Is Salting?
A salt is random data added to a password before hashing.
This ensures that two users with identical passwords still end up with completely different hashes.
Salting makes rainbow table attacks significantly less effective.
► Why Some Hashes Are Harder To Crack
Not all hashing algorithms are equal.
Older algorithms such as MD5 and SHA1 are considered outdated.
Modern systems often use:
• bcrypt
• scrypt
• Argon2
These algorithms are intentionally slow, making large-scale password cracking much more difficult.
► Real-World Example
User A:
Code
password123User B:
Code
F7@9wL!2Qz#8TnP4User A may be cracked almost immediately.
User B could require an impractical amount of computing power and time.
The attacker does not care who you are. They care how difficult your password is to guess.
► How To Protect Yourself
✓ Use long passwords
✓ Use unique passwords
✓ Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
✓ Use a password manager
✓ Change passwords after known breaches
Avoid:
✗ Reusing passwords
✗ Names and birthdays
✗ Common words
✗ Predictable patterns
► Final Thoughts
Password cracking is not magic.
Most successful attacks rely on weak passwords, reused credentials and predictable human behaviour.
The strongest defence is a long, unique password combined with MFA.
A few extra characters can be the difference between being compromised in seconds and remaining secure for years.
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