Dictionary Attacks(Password Cracking Attack)

Dictionary attacks are an example of a hit and trial password-cracking technique that is commonly used by attackers. In this password-cracking technique, the attacker uses an automatic tool that tries all words that appear in the dictionary as the victim's password. As soon as a particular word matches the victim's password, the automated tool displays it on the screen. In other words, all dictionary words are tried as the password and if a word matches, it is then displayed on the screen as the password of the victim. One of the biggest problems with this type of an attack is that it takes up a lot of system resources and is relatively quite slow. Morever, this password cracking technique is rendered useless if the victim's password is not a word that appears in the dictionary.

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Hack Windows Login Password

To hack the Windows login password, reboot and wait for the message:
:"Starting Windows 9x..."

When you see this on the screen, press F8. The boot menu will come up. Select option 7, to boot into Dos. Then go to the Windows directory by typing C:/cd windows

Then, rename all files with the extension .pwl by typing the following command:

C:/windows>ren*.pwl*.xyz
or, delete them by typing
C:/windows>del*.pwl*.xyz

Now, when the Windows password login pops up, you can write anything in the place where the password has got to be typed. As you have renamed (or deleted---although renaming then would be better as the victim will not know that his PC has been tempered with) the password files, Windows cannot find that file so when you enter a password, Windows just takes it as the original password.


 

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BIOS Passwords

BIOS passwords are the basic settings on your computer, such as how many and what kinds of disk drives ou have, which ones are enabled and which are disabled and which ones are used for booting. These settings are held in a CMOS chip on the mother board. A tiny battery keeps this chip always running so that whenever  you turn your computer off, it still remembers its instructions.

A common method of entering the BIOS is pressing the Del key at boot up. Other common methods are pressing the keys Ctrl + Alt + Esc or only Ctrol + Esc. Most  computers have a BIOS which can be configured to ask for a password as soon as the computer is switched on. If the Ask Password option is enabled, then as soon as the PC  is switched on, a dialog box welcomes you and asks you for the password. You cannot override this and there is no way of disabling this because to enter the BIOS you need to know the BIOS Password.So, what do you do? Disable it by hacking into the BIOS Setup. But there's a catch. To disable the BIOS password, you need to enter the BIOS. But as soon as you enter the BIOS, the BIOS asks for a password. The most common method of overriding this password prompt is by trying out some default BIOS passwords are:

lkwpeter	AMI	cmos
j262	Award	AMI!SW1
AWARD_SW	bios	AMI?SW1
AWARD_PW	BIOS	password
Biostar	setup	hewittrand

(Note: Complete list of BIOS passwords)

'j262' opens most versions of Award BIOS; it works about 80 percent of the time, 'AWARD_SW' and 'AWARD_PW' work on some computers as well, but less often. In some BIOS, shift + s y x z also works.

The Company name and version of the BIOS  is displayed on the screen each time the system boots.

If the default passwords did not work, then get ready for some serious hacking. Try to reset the BIOS to its default settings so that it asks for no password at all. Do the following:

First, you have to open the computer and then look for a round lithium battery, it probably looks like a silver coin. So, remove the battery and after 30 seconds or so put it back. Some computers may also require you to reset the jumper, so look for a 3-pin jumper and reset it. For example, on most machines you will find a three-pins two and three and leave it there for over five seconds, it will reset the CMOS.

When you boot the machine, some BIOS may give an error saying that the BIOS was reset or tampered with, but that is not such a big problem.

CAUTION: Messing with the CMOS chip and the jumper is more                 dangerous than editing system files.
                So, do everything with utmost caution.

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what is password?

Passwords are one of the oldest forms of authentication mechanism being used on systems accross the world. Password prompts, where one is asked to enter the correct username-password pair, are what prevent infiltration and ensure privacy. Every computer criminal aspires to be able to go past the password prompt and gain illegal access to sensitive data for malicious purposes. Even the data on Windows systems is protected through the password protection mechanism.

      As soon as one boots a Windows system, one is greeted by a welcome password prompt, which on most systems can, unfortunately, be bypassed simply by clicking on the Cancel button. Even after the Windows session has begun, it is possible for a user to enforce password protection on specific files, folders or drives. In other words, passwords have also become on e of the most commonly used authentication mechanisms on systems worldwide. It would be safe to say that passwords are the most important security mechanisms ever deployed.
   
     Unfortunately, most people continue to treat passwords as a set of random and useless characters. It is also becoming increasingly easy for computer criminals to break password protection mechanisms using sophisticated tools and algorithms. Moreover, the most common passwords continue to remain a blank or same as the username. Once an attacker finds out the victim's password there are endless number of malicious activities that can be carried out. Hence, it has become very important for Windows users to take basic precautions to improve the overall security of the system .In this section we discuss some of the most common tips and tricks related to passwords and authentication that every Windows user must know.

Warning: It is always a good idea to back up all system files involved to avoid any accidental damage.

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