How Long Does It Take Modern Hashing Algorithms to Be Cracked By Hackers?

The best defense against unauthorized access is still provided by credentials, but they are also the second line of defense. For instance, NIST login recommendations are now emphasizing login length over complexity. Hashing, but, remains a non-negotiable. In the event of a data breach, yet much stable passphrases should be hashed to prevent them from being entirely exposed and not stored in plaintext.

This article examines how modern cybercriminals attempt to break hashed passwords, explores typical encoding systems and their constraints, and discusses measures you can take to protect your hashed passwords, regardless of the encoding engine you are using.

Current password cracking methods

Patched password cracking techniques and tools are available to destructive actors. Some of the more widely used methods include brute force attacks, password dictionary problems, cross problems, and face problems.

Brute force attacks

Excessive, violent trial and error attempts to gain profile exposure are a part of a . Harmful actors use specific tools to carefully test different password combinations until a operating combination is discovered. Despite being relatively simple, s are still effective when carried out with sophisticated computer hardware like graphics processing units ( GPUs ) and password cracking software.

Password vocabulary strike

As its name implies, a password dictionary attack systematically draws words from a dictionary to brute force password variations until finding a working combination. The dictionary contents may contain every common word, specific word lists, and word combinations, as well as word derivatives and permutations with alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., substituting an “a” with a “@”). Password vocabulary strikes may also contain previously leaked passwords or key phrases exposed in data breaches.

Cross problems

To attain better strike agility and effectiveness, a cross login attack combines brute force with dictionary-based techniques. A destructive actor may incorporate techniques that incorporate both quantitative and non-alphanumeric character combinations using a dictionary word list of frequently used credentials, for instance.

Mask strikes

In some cases, malicious actors may know of specific password patterns or parameters/requirements. This knowledge allows them to use mask attacks to reduce the number of iterations and attempts in their cracking efforts. Mask strikes use brute force to check password attempts that match a specific pattern (e.g., eight characters, start with a capital letter, and end with a number or special character).

How do hashing systems protect against hacking techniques?

Hashing algorithms are used in a wide range of safety applications, from record integrity monitoring to login storage and digital signatures. Hashing is a far superior option to plain password storage, even though it’s not a foolproof security technique. With hashed passwords, you can be certain that cybercriminals are unable to simply read or use password data even if they gain access to them.

Hashing, by design, drastically reduces an attacker’s ability to crack credentials, acting as a crucial deterrent by making password cracking so period and resource-intensive that attackers are more likely to shift their attention to simpler targets.

Can hackers split encoding algorithms?

Because hashing techniques are one-way features, the only method to deal hashed passwords is through brute power techniques. Cyber attackers employ special hardware like GPUs and cracking software ( e. g., Hashcat, L0phtcrack, John The Ripper ) to execute brute force attacks at scale—typically millions or billions or combinations at a time.

Even with these advanced, purpose-built breaking tools, the certain hashing algorithm used and the combination of password length and character length can affect the time it takes to crack a password. For example, long, complicated credentials can get thousands of years to crack while quick, easy passwords can be cracked quickly.

The next Hashcat-based scratching benchmarks were all discovered by on researchers using a Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU.

MD5

When considered an industrial power hashing engine, MD5 is now considered blockchain weak due to its various security threats, that said, it remains one of the most commonly used hash techniques. For example, the popular CMS WordPress still uses MD5 by default, this accounts for approximately 43.7 % of CMS-powered websites.

With easily accessible GPUs and scratching software, attackers may quickly break mathematical passwords of 13 characters or fewer secured by MD5’s 128-bit hash, on the other hand, an 11-character password consisting of numbers, uppercase/lowercase characters, and symbols would take 26.5 thousand years.

SHA256

The National Security Agency ( NSA ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIS ) released the , which is a member of the Secure Hash Algorithm 2 ( SHA-2 ) group of hashing functions. As an upgrade to the imperfect SHA-1 algorithms, SHA256 is considered a powerful and highly secure algorithm suited for yesterday’s security applications.

When used with long, complex passwords, SHA256 is virtually unbreakable using brute force methods — an 11 figure SHA256 hashed password using numbers, upper/lowercase characters, and symbols takes 2052 years to break using GPUs and breaking technology. However, attackers can instantly crack nine character SHA256-hashed passwords consisting of only numeric or lowercase characters.

Bcrypt

Security experts believe that SHA256 and bcrypt are sufficient strong hashing algorithms for contemporary security applications. Unlike SHA256, bcrypt strengthens its hashing mechanism by using salting. By adding a random piece of data to each password hash to ensure that it is unique, bcrypt makes passwords highly resistant to dictionary or brute force attempts. Additionally, bcrypt employs a cost factor that determines the number of iterations to run the algorithm.

Bcrypt is extremely resistant to dictionary and brute force attacks due to the combination of salt and cost factoring. A cyber attacker using GPUs and cracking software would take 27, 154 years to crack an eight-character password consisting of numbers, uppercase/lowercase letters, and symbols hashed by bcrypt. However, numeric or lowercase-only bcrypt passwords under eight characters are trivial to crack, taking between a matter of hours to a few seconds to compromise.

How do hackers get around hashing algorithms?

Regardless of the hashing algorithm, the common vulnerability is short and simple passwords. Long, complex passwords that incorporate numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols are the ideal formula for password strength and resilience. However, password reuse remains a significant issue, just one shared password, no matter how strong, stored in plaintext on a poorly secured website or service, can give cyber attackers access to sensitive accounts.

In contrast to attempting to crack lengthy, complex passwords secured with modern hashing algorithms, cyber attackers are more likely to obtain breached credentials and exposed password lists from the dark web. Cracking a long password hashed with bcrypt is virtually impossible, even with purpose-built hardware and software. However, it is quick and effective to use a known compromised password.

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