Extended Mask attack when the structure and symbols of the password are known

Here is what you need to do:

1. Run the program (in this example we use Passcovery Suite), select the file. You will see document protection information then:

2. Click «Next» and select the type of attack — Brute-force with extended mask:

3. One by one specify all possible mutations of symbols in your password (gG, oO0, and so on), just like you did in PDL. Then, using the built in macro-language, combine them in the right order — ?0?1?1?2*3?4?5?6?7. Increase the maximum password length to 9 symbols:

The [?] macros means a set of symbols is obligatory during password generation.

For instance, in our example (?0?1?1?2*3?4?5?6?7):

?0 – for the first position in the password only symbols of the #0 set — g or G — are used;
?1 – for the second and third positions — only symbols of the #1 set — o, O or 0 are used;
and so on.

The minimum password length is 8 symbols. The password cannot be shorter, because we use 8 obligatory symbols in the mask.

The [*] macros means the set is not obligatory. It is used for non-described symbols when the length of the password exceeds the length of the mask. In our example (?0?1?1?2*3?4?5?6?7):

*3 – symbols of the #3 set are used only if the password length is more than 8 symbols to ‘fill up’ space between obligatory symbols.

Put differently, for a 8-symbols password the program checks all variants without [.], and for 9-symbols it adds symbols for the #3 set and also checks variants with [.].

4. Click «Finish» and wait while all the variants specified by the mask are tested. If the password fits the mask, the program will find it and displays on the screen. Click the password to copy it to the clipboard: