The average person today has 100 passwords, although it is perfectly possible to have hundreds of accounts, all needing passwords.
Passwords are created for a good reason, they make it difficult for people to access your personal information.
After all, if a hacker manages to get your personal and financial information they can steal your funds and even your identity.
That can lead to a lot of hassle.
Data is worth a fortune to any hacker. With such an attractive prize it’s not surprising that hackers are after your password.
You need to understand the most common password cracking techniques hackers use and how to avoid becoming a victim.
Understanding Password Cracking
Password cracking is simply the term used to describe finding out your password.
It generally means the password has been found on your computer or in the data being transmitted by your computer.
If the password is unencrypted then simply hacking your computer will allow the hacker to find and use your password.
Increasingly, companies are using encryption to secure the password.
This turns your chosen password into a set of characters with a hash, making it harder for a hacker to work out what it is.
Most Common Password Cracking Techniques Hackers Use in 2025
There are several approaches a hacker can use to get your password and infiltrate your accounts.
1. Phishing
Phishing is one of the simplest, yet most effective ways to get your password.
In fact, 80% of password cracks are achieved through phishing!
The hacker will prepare an email that appears to be from a respected institution, such as a bank.
They will then send it to multiple people advising them there is an issue with their account.
Naturally, the account holder will be concerned and want to contact the institution. The hacker kindly adds a link to the login page.
Unfortunately, the link takes you to a fake login page which looks just like the real thing.
When you enter your login details the hackers will be able to record and see them.
In some cases, the email link does connect you to the genuine login page.
However, when you click the link you also install software designed to extract your passwords.
The most common phishing attempt is by email and targets thousands of people at the same time.
In contrast, hackers may try spear phishing.
This is where they gather as much information as possible about one person and then target the individual with a phishing email.
It’s also possible for phishing to happen via telephone.
2. Guesswork
This is probably the least sophisticated approach but it works in a surprising number of cases.
The hacker simply uses your login name and tries the most common passwords.
There are several common passwords that should never be used.
For example:
- Password
- 123456
- Qwerty
That’s just three, there are many more common ones used by thousands of people across the country.
If you’re using one of the most common passwords a hacker will be able to work it out in minutes.
3. Social Engineering
Social engineering works hand-in-hand with guesswork. It relies on the theory that people aren’t particularly careful with their data.
Stop for a moment and consider how much information about you is available online. A little bit in multiple accounts adds up.
Hackers can collate this data and find out enough about you to con you.
A hacker can simply get enough personal data together to guess your password.
Or, they can use the information to contact you and pretend to be someone you would trust, such as your personal assistant or a member of technical support.
They ask for your credentials or for you to transfer funds and you do it, because they know enough about you to make it sound genuine.
This is becoming an increasingly popular and effective approach.
4. Shoulder Surfing
There is nothing technical about shoulder surfing. It literally means someone is looking over your shoulder as you enter password details.
It’s a common approach if you eat in public areas or often access public wi-fi.
The hacker doesn’t need to be literally looking over your shoulder, just close enough they can see you entering characters into your mobile device.
This will allow them to work out your password and then access your account.
5. Malware
Malware is another type of phishing attack. For this to work, the hacker sends you malware, hidden inside a link.
You click on the link and the malware is installed.
The link can be sent to you in an email or it can be accessed by clicking the wrong button on a website.
In most cases the malware is a keystroke logger.
It records every button you press, allowing the hacker to see everything. They can use the input to work out usernames and logins.
It’s also possible that the hacker will use the malware to bombard your computer with ads and other things that slow it down.
This is less invasive but still frustrating.
6. Brute Force
Once hackers have tried the simpler approaches without success they will move on to other attacks, specifically brute force.
They use software to create a brute force attack.
Unfortunately, while many hackers can create this type of software themselves, there is an abundance of ready-made software programs which can launch brute force attacks.
The brute force attack simply tries hundreds of passwords, starting with the most common ones and using personal data to identify possible passwords.
If you’re using a weak password there’s a good chance the hacker will be successful.
If they do manage to hack your password they will assume it is being used on other accounts and will try to log into any other accounts you have with the same password.
7. Dictionary Attack
This is a version of the brute force attack. It effectively looks at a dictionary of passwords discovered in a previous data breach.
This is combined with common phrases and can be a very successful way of cracking someone’s password.
The dictionary attack is started by the hacker and simply left to run. If you have a weak password it is only a matter of time before it works it out.
That’s why strong passwords are so important, it means password cracking takes too long.
8. Masks
A mask attack works in a similar way to a dictionary attack, trying known pairings of usernames and passwords.
However, the mask attack is more refined. Hackers will collect as much data as possible from you and from previous data breaches.
This enables them to create a list of your password characteristics.
That includes the length of your password, whether it uses special characters and any other relevant criteria.
The hacker can then create the mask, narrowing the number of password possibilities and speeding up the cracking process.
9. Rainbow Tables
Digitally stored passwords tend to be encrypted. It’s simply safer.
The most common type of encryption is to use a hash, effectively replacing characters with a hash, you need to know the encryption key to work out what character relates to each hash.
This approach is effectively a brute force attack.
However, the rainbow table takes this type of attack a stage further.
It’s effectively a table that has a hash algorithm and shows all the possible versions of a password based on the encryption used.
In effect, it has worked out possible passwords and displays them as hash encryptions. These can be compared to the encryption on the password you are trying to hack.
The result is a significantly narrowed attack field, dramatically reducing the amount of time it takes to hack.
To contain all possible versions of an encrypted password the rainbow table can be surprisingly large.
This can slow the hack down slightly.
10. Network Analysers
This is a different approach and one often used when hackers are targeting businesses.
Instead of trying to hack a password or brute force an account, the hackers target the data parcels on the internal networks.
Unfortunately for the hacker, you do need to either get some malware onto the target system or have physical access to the network switch, allowing you to plug straight into the network.
This approach allows the hacker to locate password files before they are encrypted and saved.
It makes logging in and stealing data very easy.
11. Offline Hacking
While the majority of hacks happen online, it is possible for a hacker to access your personal data without you being online!
In general, this type of attack is preferable as there is no limit to how many tries you can have when you’re offline.
The hacker will likely try to locate the password using recent data breach information.
They will need to be inside the system database before the system is offline.
That means they will need to launch a successful SQL attack. Of course, that’s not necessary if the server isn’t protected.
Once the hacker can access the offline database they can take as long as they want to figure out the password.
Protecting Your Password
Hackers launch an estimated 2,244 attacks a day. Not all are successful but enough are that your password can be compromised.
There are several things you can do to reduce the likelihood of being hacked.
Strong Passwords
Weak passwords can be cracked in minutes, strong ones take hours, usually longer than a hacker has.
A strong password is unique for each account, you can’t reuse any password.
It will have at least 12 characters and be a mixture of lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
Change Regularly
Having a unique password for each account means that a hacker can’t access more than one account if they are lucky enough to have hacked your strong password.
It’s unlikely and you can make it even harder by changing your password regularly.
In most cases every month is enough to keep your password safer. But, if you’re particularly worried you can change it as often as you like.
Just make sure each account has a different one.
Password Managers
I know what you’re thinking, with so many unique passwords it will be impossible to remember them all.
That’s why you should invest in a reputable password manager.
For a small monthly charge you’ll be able to store all your passwords in one place.
The file is encrypted, making it nearly impossible to read if someone else does get hold of it.
All you have to do is remember the logging in password to access all your other passwords.
You should note, the best password managers don’t just store your passwords, they can also generate random ones for you.
These are secure as they hold no connection to you and everyday life.
There are some great password managers on the market, but NordPass is definitely one of the best and worth trying.
Legality Of Password Cracking
Password cracking tools aren’t illegal. They can be used to test the strength of business systems and even help law enforcement find hackers.
In short, password cracking isn’t illegal.
However, it is illegal if the hackers don’t have the authority to see the data and if their aim is to use the information harmfully.
For example, gaining passwords to hack someone’s account and steal their money or identity.
Summing Up
Password hacking is a serious issue. If someone can access any of your accounts they can make life unpleasant for you.
Unfortunately, it is much easier to hack your accounts than most people think.
Even a novice password hacker can try a variety of tools, enjoy success, and get some experience to use in the future.
That’s why you need to understand the most common password cracking techniques hackers use.
It’s the best way of being prepared against an attack.
That, and using a strong password which has no connection to you.