This AI Tool Can Crack Passwords Within Minutes

AI is undoubtedly ubiquitous, powering our devices, providing answers to our inquiries, and even assisting in writing essays and articles. Given its vast scope, AI is also susceptible to malicious use, which may become a problem in the future.

A case in point is the potential use of AI for cracking passwords, as demonstrated in a recent study by cybersecurity firm Home Security Heroes. The study highlights the speed and efficacy of AI in password cracking, using the new AI-driven tool PassGAN as an example and raising concerns about password security.

In the study, the researchers utilized PassGAN to analyze over 15.6 million passwords. The results are alarming, with the tool cracking 51% of common passwords in less than a minute, 65% in less than an hour, 71% in less than a day, and 81% in less than a month.

However, there is no need to panic just yet, as the firm has provided a table that outlines the most complex passwords that will take longer to crack.

For instance, a 12-character password containing uppercase and lowercase letters may take the tool 289 years to crack. Adding numbers to the mix would increase the time to 2,000 years, and symbols would make it even more secure, taking up to 30,000 years to crack.

Have a look at the table below.

The cybersecurity firm recommends using passwords that are at least 12 characters long and not just composed of simple numbers, as they are easy to crack. To help users generate strong passwords, the website offers a tool that calculates how long it would take to crack a randomly generated password.