Phase 1 – Gaining access and cracking passwords

If you know me, you know I have a big issue with passwords. I always jump on my soapbox whenever talking about passwords, because let's face it, we create online entities, and use accounts online all the time within our network or outside—on the internet. Everything about us is contained in these entities and we are to protect these with passwords. Now, here comes my soapbox…people are so stinking lazy when it comes to creating passwords—it drives me absolutely bonkers. As we move along, you'll understand why I'm so passionate about this subject.

Matt Mullenweg, who created WordPress, had this great quote: Love is great…but not as a password. Did you know that love is one of the top 20 passwords that people use, with a variation at the end of it? So, again, our whole goal here in this phase of gaining access is attempting to crack a password. We don't necessarily go after the...