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?
These tools do not decrypt passwords. They perform a `dictionary attack` - they take words from a list and encrypt them. If the encrypted password matches the one in the password file, the password is cracked. It's a bit more complicated than this, but this is basically how they work. Matthew