Skip main navigation

New offer! Get 30% off one whole year of Unlimited learning. Subscribe for just £249.99 £174.99. New subscribers only. T&Cs apply

Find out more

Crack a Password Using a Dictionary Attack

In this video, Zanidd will ill demonstrate how to use a word list to crack a password. We will look at the rockyou.txt.gz.

This video will demonstrate how to use a word list to crack a password.

We will look at the rockyou.txt.gz. As you can see from the file ending, it is not a text file. Our first step will be to unpack the file, and access the text file. This will show us a list of commonly used passwords, which we will use to crack passwords.

Over to you: Using a dictionary attack, crack the four passwords presented in the video. Compare how long it took you to crack the passwords when using a dictionary attack compared to when you used a brute force attack. Share your experience with your fellow learners in the Comments section below.

This article is from the free online

Advanced Cyber Security Training: Hands-On Password Attacks

Created by
FutureLearn - Learning For Life

Reach your personal and professional goals

Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.

Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.

Start Learning now