Technology Corner: Brute Force Password Generation -- Basic Iterative and Recursive Algorithms

Authors

Nick V. Flor, University of New MexicoFollow
Haile Shannon, University of New Mexico

Prior Publisher

The Association of Digital Forensics, Security and Law (ADFSL)

Abstract

Most information systems are secured at minimum by some form of password protection. For various reasons a password may be unavailable, requiring some form of password recovery procedure. One such procedure is software-based automated password recovery, where a program attempts to log into a system by repeatedly trying different password combinations. At the core of such software is a password generator. This article describes the basic iterative and recursive algorithms for generating all possible passwords of a given length, which is commonly referred to as brute-force password generation. The paper ends with a discussion of alternative password recovery procedures one should attempt before brute-force password recovery.

References

Brown, A. S., Bracken, E., Zoccoli, S., & Douglas, K. (2004, September). Generating and Remembering Passwords. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18(6), 641-651.

Florencio, D., & Herley, C. (2007). A Large-Scale Study of Web Password Habits. In: Proceedings of the 16th International World Wide Web Conference (pp. 657-665). Banff, Alberta: University of Calgary.

Morris, R., & Thompson, K. (1979, November). Password Security: A Case History. Communications of the ACM, 22(11), 594-597.

Recommended Citation

Flor, Nick V. and Shannon, Haile (2011) "Technology Corner: Brute Force Password Generation -- Basic Iterative and Recursive Algorithms," Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law: Vol. 6 , Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15394/jdfsl.2011.1102
Available at: https://commons.erau.edu/jdfsl/vol6/iss3/7