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SSCP · Question #1293

Password crackers fall into two broad categories. What are they?<br>(Choose two)

The correct answer is A. Brute force E. Dictionary. The two broad categories of password cracking techniques are brute-force attacks, which try all possible combinations, and dictionary attacks, which use pre-compiled lists of common passwords.

Submitted by skyler.x· Apr 18, 2026Access Controls

Question

Password crackers fall into two broad categories. What are they?<br>(Choose two)

Options

  • ABrute force
  • BPassive
  • CActive
  • DRandom
  • EDictionary

How the community answered

(41 responses)
  • A
    90% (37)
  • B
    2% (1)
  • C
    5% (2)
  • D
    2% (1)

Why each option

The two broad categories of password cracking techniques are brute-force attacks, which try all possible combinations, and dictionary attacks, which use pre-compiled lists of common passwords.

ABrute forceCorrect

Brute-force attacks attempt every possible combination of characters until the correct password is found, making it computationally intensive but exhaustive.

BPassive

Passive attacks involve eavesdropping or monitoring without directly interacting or altering data, which is not a method for cracking a password.

CActive

Active attacks involve direct interaction with the target system to modify or access data, but 'active' itself is not a specific password cracking category like brute-force or dictionary.

DRandom

'Random' is not a specific type of password cracking attack; brute-force attacks can be considered random in their attempt combinations but 'random' is not a category.

EDictionaryCorrect

Dictionary attacks work by trying words and phrases from a pre-compiled list (a 'dictionary') against a target's password, often combined with variations.

Concept tested: Password cracking attack types

Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/password-policy-best-practices.html

Topics

#Password cracking#Brute-force attack#Dictionary attack#Authentication attacks

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