Quoting "Winelfred G. Pasamba" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > is it really impossible or just too hard for the normal computer but > easy > for the NSA computer.
The function crypt() was designed to be mathematically impossible to invert. That is, you can not find a function uncrypt() such that uncrypt(crypt(x)) == x It such a function uncrypt() could be written, then Unix systems will not use the crypt function, or the enhanced md5 crypt(). That is why the world's fastest computers can only try to guess you password, but will try to make a million guesses a minute, because if the computer is fast enough, it might make the correct guess in a reasonable amount of time. For this reason, it is prudent to hide the encrypted password file in /etc/shadow, which is readable by root only. Also it is prudent to choose a password that "crack" programs will not try to use as guess, in case the "crack" program gets hold of the /etc/shadow file. P~Manalastas -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
