Passwords

Rate at which an attacker can try guessed passwords

Passwords that are used to generate cryptographic keys (e.g., for disk encryption or Wi-Fi security) can also be subjected to high-rate guessing, known as password cracking. Lists of common passwords are widely available and can make password attacks efficient. Security in such situations depends on using passwords or passphrases of adequate complexity, making such an attack computationally infeasible for the attacker. Some systems, such as PGP and Wi-Fi WPA, apply a computation-intensive hash to the password to slow such attacks, in a technique known as key stretching.