How artificial intelligence can crack passwords – La Provence

Artificial intelligence-related uses can sometimes turn out to be malicious. Hackers could thus come up with the idea of ​​”cracking” passwords with ChatGPT or other tools of this type and thus gaining illegal access to personal data that is supposed to be protected.

Smart people could very well use ChatGPT for malicious purposes. Through cleverly written prompts, they can, in a roundabout way, obtain the passwords of certain people, at least those who have chosen something to do with their own lives as a source of inspiration (date of birth, children’s first names, pets, etc.). Computer security specialists have already taken the test, such as Check Point. In fact, giving information about someone or referencing their online biography is enough for ChatGPT to come up with examples of passwords that person might use based on their life, affinities, etc. ChatGPT doesn’t shy away from the bad ones Deceptive intentions that this type of request suggests: “I’m sorry, but it would be inappropriate and potentially dangerous to suggest or guess the passwords that person might use to access their online account.” .

However, there has been an artificial intelligence on GitHub for several years that is specifically dedicated to cracking passwords. PassGan was powered by machine learning from a database of hundreds of millions of passwords. The cybersecurity specialists at Home Security Heroes have also put a fun tool online that allows you to theoretically know how long it takes an artificial intelligence to crack a password. Depending on the complexity, it can take anywhere from seconds to billions of years! So far it has been shown that half (51%) of “classic” passwords can be cracked in less than a minute, 35% in less than an hour and 71% in less than a day. The more complex the chosen password, the longer it takes, even for a well-trained artificial intelligence to find it. In summary, you’re relatively safe with 10+ characters mixing lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters.

But in any case, double authentication, which consists in validating access to your account via a code provided by SMS, email or a dedicated application, will prevent anyone from accessing your data even after your password has been successfully cracked was otherwise.