Attack Types
Methods for recovering passwords are often called attacks. With the current
version of our software, you can implement three types of attacks. They are used
for recovering passwords to documents created in Microsoft Excel and Word 97 or higher
(except the Excel and Word 97 French editions which can be recovered instantly).
- Brute-force attack. Such an attack checks all possible variants of a password.
You specify the length and character range of the password. It is the most reliable
type of attack, but it is also takes the longest time.
- Mask-based brute-force attack. Here you have a greater opportunity to apply
rules for generating passwords – you can specify a mask for the password. Such
an attack reduces the search time, but it implies that you have some information
about the password that makes it possible to specify the mask.
- Dictionary-based attack. Here a limited number of passwords stored in a text
file called a dictionary is checked. There is a password on each line in the file, and
the program reads and checks them one by one. This is usually the fastest way to
recover a password since it is a word that makes sense and can be entered into
the dictionary.