The competition between cybersecurity solutions and malevolent actors seems never-ending in a time when worries about digital security predominate. An AI tool has emerged as the newest opponent in this continuing conflict, drawing criticism and concerns from the cybersecurity community. “Crack in a Flash” is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence program that can break passwords in a matter of minutes, completely changing the digital security industry.
A new AI tool that can quickly hack passwords has been developed, raising questions about critical data security. PassGAN is the tool’s name, an artificial neural network that has been taught to create and guess passwords.
Using a machine learning algorithm to analyze password trends and patterns, PassGen generates new passwords that mimic known patterns. Given that it can quickly iterate over billions of password permutations, it is incredibly effective at guessing passwords.
Despite the fact that the programme was designed to improve password security, there have been worries raised about its potential for misuse. Hackers and fraudsters can quickly and easily crack passwords with PassGen, a password-cracking tool, and gain access to sensitive data like private emails, financial information, and important documents.
The tool should only be used for morally-driven tasks like evaluating password security methods, according to PassGen’s designers. They do admit the possibility of technological misuse, though.
Key Features of PassGen AI:
- Strong and Unique Passwords: Our tool generates passwords that are a combination of random characters, numbers, symbols, and upper and lower case letters, making them highly secure and unique for each account.
- Customization Options: We provide various customization options, allowing you to tailor your passwords to specific requirements, such as length, inclusion or exclusion of certain characters, and more.
- User-Friendly Interface: PassGen AI has a simple and intuitive interface that makes generating passwords a breeze. You don’t need to be a cybersecurity expert to use our tool efficiently.
- Password Strength Analysis: We provide a password strength analysis feature that evaluates the robustness of your generated password and offers suggestions to further enhance its security.
- Secure Password Storage: We never store or save the passwords generated by our tool. Your privacy and security are of utmost importance to us.
Hence, “Can an artificial intelligence-driven tool crack user passwords?” is not the question. What really needs to be asked is, “How long will it take for AI-based tools to crack passwords?”
Home Security Heroes, a Texas-based cybersecurity business, conducted research to provide a solution. PassGen was trained by the business using 15,680,000 passwords from the 2009 RockYou dataset breach. What Home Security Heroes (HSH) found out is:
- 51% of common passwords can be cracked by PassGen in less than one min
- 65% of common passwords can be cracked in less than one hour
- 71% of common passwords can be cracked in less than one day
- 81% of common passwords can be cracked in less than one month
How To Ensure AI Tools Can’t Guess Your Password
The Time It Takes PassGAN To Guess Different Passwords:
- Users should have at least 15 characters, at least two letters (upper and lower-case), numbers, and symbols.
- Take care not to have any obvious password patterns.
- Users shouldn’t reuse the same password across multiple accounts/platforms.
- More importantly, consistently check if your password has been breached on services like Have I Been Pwned? Another practice is for users to change their passwords every three to six months.
- The use of password managers and multi-factor authentication is also recommended.
This means it is fairly easy to beat the tool. All you need to do is have a stronger password. Refer to the chart below to gauge how strong your password needs to be. For reference, to crack an 18-character password, it would take PassGen:
- Ten months if it is made up of just numbers
- 22 million years if it is made up of just lower-case letters
- 7.23 billion years if it is made up of lower- and upper-case letters
- 96 trillion years if it is made up of numbers, lower- and upper-case letters
- Six quintillion years if it comprises numbers, lower and uppercase letters, and symbols.
