Re: Password encryption
On Wed, 3 Nov 1999, Pann McCuaig wrote:
: On Thu, Nov 04, 1999 at 00:40, Oliver Elphick wrote:
:
: > Strictly, password encryption is authentication, rather than encryption,
: > because password encryption is one-way: you cannot decrypt a password.
:
: Well, yes, but . . .
:
: What do you call "discovering" a weak password using the tools created
: for that purpose?
Reverse engineering - the "tools created for that purpose" simply hash
strings and compare the result to whatever is stored in /etc/passwd (or
hopefully /etc/shdow); once you have a match you have presumably
discovered the password.
--
Nathan Norman
MidcoNet 410 South Phillips Avenue Sioux Falls, SD
mailto:finn@midco.net http://www.midco.net
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