Dictionary attack! Time to change your PASSWORD!

Dictionary attack refers to a particular method of breaking into a password-protected computer or server. This is the easiest and most favourite method of attack used by hackers all over the world to steal the passwords. As the very name ‘dictionary attack’ suggests, dictionary is the weapon with which the hacker attacks your password-protected system or server. It is also used for stealing the passwords of your email ID or social networking site accounts.

Now, you might think how a dictionary can be used as a weapon to steal a password. It is an undeniable fact that the majority of the individuals and organizations with an email ID uses a dictionary word as their passwords; perhaps you too! The reason is that dictionary words are precise and easy to remember. In simple terms, dictionary attack is the method of trying every word in a dictionary as a possible password of your computer, server, email ID etc. Years ago this kind of attack was very boring and time consuming for the attackers as they had to guess the password by manually typing each dictionary word one by one. But now the situation has changed; expert hackers have developed computer programs which can automatically generate and try all the dictionary words within the blink of an eye.

Therefore, it is high time that you changed your easy-to-remember password which is found in a dictionary especially an English dictionary. You can, however, bypass the dictionary attack by keeping an alpha-numeric password i.e. a combination of words and numbers along with a few symbols which are difficult to guess. If you want to be highly immune to such attacks, try to personalize your password by using a long meaningless jumble of letters and numerals which cannot be found in any dictionary in the world.

An extra piece of advice: never use the names or nicknames of your dear and near ones as your password, nor the date of birth, telephone number, vehicle number or reversed spelling of your own name because, besides hackers, even those who are closer to you might guess your password simply out of curiosity to peep into your valuable and highly confidential personal data!