Guess a Password

Though there's no guaranteed way to guess a password, there are several methods that can lead you in the right direction. If you want to know how to guess a password, just follow these steps and you'll be on your way.

Steps

Common Tricks

  1. Guess the most common passwords. At the end of every year, a list of the 25 most common passwords is released. These passwords are the easiest to guess and thus the most commonly hacked. Though you should avoid picking any of these passwords for yourself, try guessing from this list of passwords:[1]
    • Password
    • 123456@
    • 12345678
    • abc123
    • qwerty
    • monkey
    • letmein
    • dragon
    • 111111
    • baseball
    • iloveyou
    • trustno1
    • 1234567
    • sunshine
    • master
    • 123123
    • welcome
    • shadow
    • Ashley
    • football
    • Jesus
    • Michael
    • ninja
    • mustang
    • password1
  2. Use some common password tricks. Other than guessing the most obvious passwords, there are a few tricks that are used by professional password guessers. They know, for example, that there's at least a 50% chance that a user's password will have one or more vowels. Here are a few other tricks that you should know:[2]
    • If the password has a number in it, it will be usually be a 1 or a 2 and it will be at the end of the password.
    • If there's a capital letter in the password, it will usually be at the beginning -- often followed by a vowel.
  3. See if the password has to meet any requirements. See if the password has to be a certain length (typically passwords have to be at least 6 characters long), and if it has to have at least one number or one symbol or a special character. If you're not sure, you can try setting up your own account at the site where you're trying to guess the password from, and you'll be told the requirements of the password.
  4. Ask for a hint. If the password has a "hint" option, then ask for a hint to guide you in guessing the password. The hint question can be something like, "What is your mother's maiden name?" or "What is the name of your first pet?" These questions can help narrow down your guessing; though you may not know the name of the person's first pet, you can guess from a number of pet names. Or, if you want to be extra sneaky, you can try to bring up first pets in a conversation with that person.
    • The hint can narrow down your search quite a bit if you know some personal information about that person. For example, if the question is, "Where were you born?" you may already know the person's birth state -- or even his birth city.

Reading Clues

  1. Guess personal names. Many people, and especially women, have personal names in their passwords. Most people wouldn't put their own names in a password, but you could try those anyway. Here are some other names to try when you're guessing a password:
    • The name of the person's significant other or spouse
    • The names of the person's siblings
    • The name of the person's current or favorite pet
    • The name of the person's (especially a male's) favorite athlete
    • The person's childhood nickname or current nickname
  2. Guess the person's hobbies and interests. You can also guess a password by thinking of the person's hobbies or interests. Here are some tricks to try:
    • Try combining a man's favorite athlete with his favorite sport. For example: "Tigergolf" or "Kobebball."
    • Guess the name of a woman's favorite TV show, or the name of a favorite character on that show.
    • Guess the name of a person's favorite athletic hobby. If the person loves to swim, try "Swimmer" with some numbers after it.
  3. Guess important numbers. Many people use numbers in their password, indicating a date or a lucky number. Some people even make their whole password consist of numbers. You can try these numbers on their own, or add them to the end of one of the words that you guessed. Here are some ways to guess a person's password based on numbers:
    • Guess the person's birthday. For example, if the person's birthday is 12/18/75, type in "121875" or "12181975."
    • Try the person's street address. The person's street address, such as 955, could be a part of the password.
    • Try the person's lucky number. If the person has been vocal about what his lucky number is, try it.
    • If the person played a sport, try his jersey number as part of the password.
    • Try a part of the person's phone number.
    • Try the person's graduating class from college or high school.
  4. Guess the person's favorite things. You can also guess the person's password by guessing from a number of the person's favorite things. Here are a few favorite things to try:
    • The person's favorite TV show.
    • The person's favorite movie.
    • The person's favorite food.
    • The person's favorite book.

Tips

  • When hacking, be sure you are not being watched by anyone.
  • If you know the person well, think of their interests and hobbies, as this could help crack it.
  • The password may be case-sensitive, and the person could have used any weird combination of capital and lowercase letters. Keep that in mind.
  • Sometimes the person uses actions instead of nouns.
  • If you know how many letters there are in the password, this could save you lots of time.

Warnings

  • The program that owns the account you are trying to guess the password of will more often than not have a "safety valve" - for example, you can only make 3 false attempts every 2 minutes. Triggering the limit too much, especially for cell phone PIN codes, can lead to it completely shutting down and never letting you try again.
  • Never cross the legal boundaries and get yourself in trouble.
  • Never try to guess the password if it is illegal (e.g. hacking into someone else's WiFi with a guessed password).

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/25/tech/web/worst-passwords-2012/index.html
  2. ↑ http://lifehacker.com/5800346/what-professional-password-guessers-look-for-in-your-password
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