Researchers used the PassGAN AI platform to see how fast it could crack passwords, using the old RockYou widget as a test.
According to experts at Home Security HeroesIt was a popular widget on MySpace and Facebook. However, it was hacked in 2009 and 32 million passwords were leaked on the dark web.
To conduct their experiment, the researchers used 15.6 million passwords and entered them into PassGAN AI. This helped train the AI tool.
As explained by Tech RadarPassGAN AI is a password generator based on the Generative Adversarial Network, which works by creating fake passwords that mimic real ones.
Two neural networks, a generator and a discriminator, make up the AI. The discriminator analyzes and sends information back to the generator, creating the passwords. The more trained it is, the more accurate the results will be.
The results of research on password cracking using artificial intelligence
Home Security Heroes found that after excluding passwords of less than four characters and more than 18 characters, 51 percent of the most common passwords could be hacked in less than a minute. “It took less than an hour to hack 65 percent of passwords, one day for 71 percent and less than a month for 81 percent,” the experts said.
What is the solution to better protect yourself in the use of passwords? Use a password of at least 15 characters, with upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
“It would take 14 billion years to decode such a password,” say researchers at Home Security Heroes.
In addition, it is necessary to regularly change the password, and that the one used for a certain application is not repeated in another.
