How PassGAN Is Revolutionizing Password Cracking: What You Need to Know

Dewyan Thilakasiri
3 min readApr 10, 2023

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Today’s topic is PassGAN, an exciting breakthrough in the field of cybersecurity.

time it takes to crack passwords with help of PassGAN

PassGAN is a type of deep learning model that is specifically designed to generate passwords that are similar to real-world passwords. It is built using a generative adversarial network (GAN), which is a type of neural network made up of two components: a generator and a discriminator.

The generator is responsible for creating synthetic passwords that are similar to real passwords, while the discriminator learns to distinguish between real and synthetic passwords. By working together, these two components allow PassGAN to generate passwords that are very difficult to distinguish from real-world passwords.

One of the most interesting things about PassGAN is how it was trained. The model was trained on a large dataset of real-world passwords, making it incredibly effective in cracking passwords. By learning the distribution of real passwords from actual password leaks, PassGAN can autonomously generate passwords that are similar to real passwords without any human input.

The origins of PassGAN can be traced back to a paper published in 2017 by researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology. In the paper, the researchers outlined the architecture and training process for PassGAN, as well as its potential applications in password cracking.

Since then, PassGAN has been used by researchers and cybersecurity experts to crack passwords and test the security of various systems. In fact, a recent study conducted by Home Security Heroes found that PassGAN was able to crack 51% of common passwords in under a minute, and 81% of passwords in under a month. These impressive statistics show just how powerful PassGAN can be in the hands of cybercriminals.

Despite the potential dangers associated with PassGAN, it is important to remember that this technology can also be used for good. PassGAN can be used by cybersecurity professionals to test the strength of passwords and identify vulnerabilities in systems.

As someone who is passionate about the intersection of technology and security, I find PassGAN to be an incredibly fascinating and important development in the field of cybersecurity. It is exciting to see how AI is being used to improve security and protect against cyberattacks.

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Dewyan Thilakasiri
Dewyan Thilakasiri

Written by Dewyan Thilakasiri

Wandering the internet with a great interest in technology.

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