PCWQ: a framework for evaluating password cracking wordlist quality

Aikaterini Kanta, Iwen Coisel, Mark Scanlon*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The persistence of the single password as a method of authentication has driven both the efforts of system administrators to nudge users to choose stronger, safer passwords and elevated the sophistication of the password cracking methods chosen by their adversaries. In this constantly moving landscape, the use of wordlists to create smarter password cracking candidates begs the question of whether there is a way to assess which is better. In this paper, we present a novel modular framework to measure the quality of input wordlists according to several interconnecting metrics. Furthermore, we have conducted a preliminary analysis where we assess different input wordlists to showcase the framework’s evaluation process.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDigital Forensics and Cyber Crime - 12th EAI International Conference, ICDF2C 2021, Proceedings
EditorsPavel Gladyshev, Sanjay Goel, Joshua James, George Markowsky, Daryl Johnson
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages159-175
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9783031063657
ISBN (Print)9783031063640
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jun 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event12th EAI International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, ICDF2C 2021 - Virtual, Online
Duration: 6 Dec 20219 Dec 2021

Publication series

NameLecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST
Volume441
ISSN (Print)1867-8211
ISSN (Electronic)1867-822X

Conference

Conference12th EAI International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, ICDF2C 2021
CityVirtual, Online
Period6/12/219/12/21

Keywords

  • Contextual information
  • Dictionary
  • Password cracking
  • Wordlist

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