What is the process of recovering passwords using techniques such as brute-forcing, guessing, and social engineering?

• A. Escalating Privileges
• B. Gaining Access
• C. Hiding Files
• D. Password cracking

Answer: (D)

Password cracking is the process of recovering passwords by using techniques like brute-forcing, guessing, and social engineering. Brute-forcing tries many possible combinations until the correct one is found. Guessing relies on common passwords, predictable patterns, or information about the user. Social engineering tricks a person into revealing their password or sensitive details. Together, these methods are used in security testing to determine how easily credentials can be obtained and to assess password strength. This differs from escalating privileges (grabbing higher access after obtaining a password) or simply gaining access (which can happen through other means); hiding files is unrelated to retrieving passwords.