Attacking and Protecting Password

Attacking and Protecting Password
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Definition of Passwords.........................................................................................................2
Types of Password Attacks....................................................................................................3
Countermeasures or Prevention of Passwords with Cracking Attacks..................................4
Authentication Methods Used for Preserving Passwords......................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Passwords can be defined as the string of characters that are utilized for verifying the
identity of any specific user during the process of authentication (Li et al., 2013). There are
various types of password security attacks in today’s cyber world and these are extremely
vulnerable for the user (Chen, Kuo & Wuu, 2014). The most popular password attacks are
brute force, reverse brute force, dictionary attack, keylogger attack, social engineering
attackS, offline cracking of password, resetting of the password and many more.
The following term paper outlines a brief discussion on the attacking and protecting
of passwords. The various types of password attacks are well defined here with proper
description. Moreover, the countermeasures of all these password attacks will also be given
in this term paper. The prevention of the passwords with cracking attacks will be described
here. The final part of the part discusses about the authentication methods, used for
preserving all these passwords.
Discussion
Definition of Passwords
A password can be defined as the string of characters that are used for the
authentication of a user on any computer system. Most of the passwords consist of several
characters that include numbers, letters, symbols and special characters (Li, 2013). Passwords
usually do not consist of any space. It is generally a unique combination of numbers and
letters and never contains actual words. When a user logs into an account, either social media
or bank account, he or she provides his or her username and password. Usernames are usually
public information, whereas passwords are absolutely private to every user.