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In cryptography, a brute-force attack consists of an attacker submitting many passwords or passphrases with the hope of eventually guessing correctly. The attacker systematically checks all possible passwords and passphrases until the correct one is found. Alternatively, the attacker can attempt to guess the key which is typically created from the password using a key derivation function. This is known as an exhaustive key search.
A brute-force attack is a cryptanalytic attack that can, in theory, be used to attempt to decrypt any encrypted data (except for data encrypted in an information-theoretically secure manner).[1] Such an attack might be used when it is not possible to take advantage of other weaknesses in an encryption system (if any exist) that would make the task easier.
When password-guessing, this method is very fast when used to check all short passwords, but for longer passwords other methods such as the dictionary attack are used because a brute-force search takes too long. Longer passwords, passphrases and keys have more possible values, making them exponentially more difficult to crack than shorter ones.[2]
Brute-force attacks can be made less effective by obfuscating the data to be encoded making it more difficult for an attacker to recognize when the code has been cracked or by making the attacker do more work to test each guess. One of the measures of the strength of an encryption system is how long it would theoretically take an attacker to mount a successful brute-force attack against it.[3]
Brute-force attacks are an application of brute-force search, the general problem-solving technique of enumerating all candidates and checking each one. The word 'hammering' is sometimes used to describe a brute-force attack,[4] with 'anti-hammering' for countermeasures.[5]
Brute-force attacks work by calculating every possible combination that could make up a password and testing it to see if it is the correct password. As the password's length increases, the amount of time, on average, to find the correct password increases exponentially.[6]
The resources required for a brute-force attack grow exponentially with increasing key size, not linearly. Although U.S. export regulations historically restricted key lengths to 56-bit symmetric keys (e.g. Data Encryption Standard), these restrictions are no longer in place, so modern symmetric algorithms typically use computationally stronger 128- to 256-bit keys.
As commercial successors of governmental ASIC solutions have become available, also known as custom hardware attacks, two emerging technologies have proven their capability in the brute-force attack of certain ciphers. One is modern graphics processing unit (GPU) technology,[8][page needed] the other is the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology. GPUs benefit from their wide availability and price-performance benefit, FPGAs from their energy efficiency per cryptographic operation. Both technologies try to transport the benefits of parallel processing to brute-force attacks. In case of GPUs some hundreds, in the case of FPGA some thousand processing units making them much better suited to cracking passwords than conventional processors.Various publications in the fields of cryptographic analysis have proved the energy efficiency of today's FPGA technology, for example, the COPACOBANA FPGA Cluster computer consumes the same energy as a single PC (600 W), but performs like 2,500 PCs for certain algorithms. A number of firms provide hardware-based FPGA cryptographic analysis solutions from a single FPGA PCI Express card up to dedicated FPGA computers.[citation needed] WPA and WPA2 encryption have successfully been brute-force attacked by reducing the workload by a factor of 50 in comparison to conventional CPUs[9][10] and some hundred in case of FPGAs.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) permits the use of 256-bit keys. Breaking a symmetric 256-bit key by brute force requires 2128 times more computational power than a 128-bit key. One of the fastest supercomputers in 2019 has a speed of 100 petaFLOPS which could theoretically check 100 million (1014) AES keys per second (assuming 1000 operations per check), but would still require 3.671055 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space.[11]
An underlying assumption of a brute-force attack is that the complete key space was used to generate keys, something that relies on an effective random number generator, and that there are no defects in the algorithm or its implementation. For example, a number of systems that were originally thought to be impossible to crack by brute force have nevertheless been cracked because the key space to search through was found to be much smaller than originally thought, because of a lack of entropy in their pseudorandom number generators. These include Netscape's implementation of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) (cracked by Ian Goldberg and David Wagner in 1995) and a Debian/Ubuntu edition of OpenSSL discovered in 2008 to be flawed.[12][13] A similar lack of implemented entropy led to the breaking of Enigma's code.[14][15]
Credential recycling is the hacking practice of re-using username and password combinations gathered in previous brute-force attacks. A special form of credential recycling is pass the hash, where unsalted hashed credentials are stolen and re-used without first being brute forced.
In a reverse brute-force attack, a single (usually common) password is tested against multiple usernames or encrypted files.[19] The process may be repeated for a select few passwords. In such a strategy, the attacker is not targeting a specific user.
The name "brute force" comes from attackers using excessively forceful attempts to gain access to user accounts. Despite being an old cyberattack method, brute force attacks are tried and tested and remain a popular tactic with hackers.
A hybrid brute force attack is when a hacker combines a dictionary attack method with a simple brute force attack. It begins with the hacker knowing a username, then carrying out a dictionary attack and simple brute force methods to discover an account login combination.
A reverse brute force attack sees an attacker begin the process with a known password, which is typically discovered through a network breach. They use that password to search for a matching login credential using lists of millions of usernames. Attackers may also use a commonly used weak password, such as "Password123," to search through a database of usernames for a match.
Brute force attacks are often not personal. A hacker may simply want to create havoc and showcase their malicious skills. They may do this by spreading malware via email or Short Message Service (SMS) messages, concealing malware within a spoofed website designed to look like a legitimate site, or redirecting website visitors to malicious sites.
Brute force attacks are often launched in an attempt to steal data from an organization, which not only costs them financially but also causes huge reputational damage. Websites can also be targeted with attacks that infest them with obscene or offensive text and images, thereby denigrating their reputation, which could lead to them being taken down.
Brute force attack tools include password-cracking applications, which crack username and password combinations that would be extremely difficult for a person to crack on their own. Commonly used brute force attack tools include:
Individuals and organizations can employ several tactics to protect themselves against known vulnerabilities like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Cryptanalysis, the study of ciphers and cryptography, can also help organizations strengthen their security defenses and safeguard their confidential information from brute force attacks.
The best way to defend against brute force attacks that target passwords is to make passwords as tough as possible to crack. End-users have a key role to play in protecting their and their organization's data by using stronger passwords and following strict password best practices. This will make it more difficult and time-consuming for attackers to guess their passwords, which could lead to them giving up.
There is little point in users following strong password best practices if their organization is not capable of protecting their data from brute force attacks. The onus is also on the organization to safeguard its users and bolster network security through tactics such as:
A 128-bit encryption key would require two to the power of 128 combinations to crack, which is impossible for most powerful computers. Most websites and web browsers use it. 256-bit encryption makes data protection even stronger, to the point that even a powerful computer that can check trillions of combinations every second would never crack it. This makes 256-bit encryption completely immune to brute force attacks.
Dictionary attacks: in a standard attack, a hacker chooses a target and runs possible passwords against that username. These are known as dictionary attacks. Dictionary attacks are the most basic tool in brute force attacks. While not necessarily being brute force attacks in themselves, these are often used as an important component for password cracking. Some hackers run through unabridged dictionaries and augment words with special characters and numerals or use special dictionaries of words, but this type of sequential attack is cumbersome.
Hybrid brute force attacks: these hackers blend outside means with their logical guesses to attempt a break-in. A hybrid attack usually mixes dictionary and brute force attacks. These attacks are used to figure out combo passwords that mix common words with random characters. A brute force attack example of this nature would include passwords such as NewYork1993 or Spike1234.
Reverse brute force attacks: just as the name implies, a reverse brute force attack reverses the attack strategy by starting with a known password. Then hackers search millions of usernames until they find a match. Many of these criminals start with leaked passwords that are available online from existing data breaches.
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