Password Recovery Basics > Recovering Strong Passwords

Every user builds passwords according to their own rules. A password should be strong enough but easy to remember. That's why many passwords are constructed as "John1979" or "Cindy1990". The name, the year of birth, and some modifications like capitalizing the first letter is how most passwords look.

In this attack, every dictionary word is tested "as is", followed by its variations with selected mutation rules applied. Our engine offers many mutation rules, and one can set the mutation level for each rule as well. There are three mutation levels: Minimal, Average, Maximal (MIN, AVE, MAX).

Case mutation

Changes the case of symbols.

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	All lowercase symbols	password	password
MIN, AVE, MAX	All uppercase symbols	password	PASSWORD
MIN, AVE, MAX	First symbol is uppercase	password	Password
MIN, AVE, MAX	All capitals except first symbol	password	pASSWORD
AVE, MAX	First and last symbols are caps	password	PassworD
MAX	Each symbol is capital	password	Password, pAssword, paSsword .. passworD

Digit mutation

Adds leading and trailing digits to the word.

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	One digit at the end, all lowercase	password	password0, password1, password2 .. password9
MIN, AVE, MAX	One digit at the end, first symbol is capital	password	Password0, Password1, Password2 .. Password9
AVE, MAX	One digit at the end, all caps	password	PASSWORD0, PASSWORD1, PASSWORD2 .. PASSWORD9
AVE, MAX	One leading digit, all lowercase	password	0password, 1password, 2password .. 9password
AVE, MAX	One leading digit, first letter is capital	password	0Password, 1Password, 2Password .. 9Password
AVE, MAX	One leading digit, all caps	password	0PASSWORD, 1PASSWORD, 2PASSWORD .. 9PASSWORD
MAX	Two digits at the end, all lowercase	password	password00, password01, password02 .. password99
MAX	Two digits at the end, first symbol is capital	password	Password00, Password01, Password02 .. Password99
MAX	Two digits at the end, all caps	password	PASSWORD00, PASSWORD01, PASSWORD02 ... PASSWORD99

Border mutation

Adds frequently used phrases to the word.

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Frequent phrase at the end, all small	password	password123, passwordxxx, passwordqwer, password000..
MIN, AVE, MAX	Leading frequent phrase, all small	password	123password, xxxpassword, abcpassword, 000password..
AVE, MAX	Symbols as prefix and suffix, all small	password	#password#, -password-, password ..
AVE, MAX	Frequent phrase at the end, first one is capital	password	Password123, Passwordxxx, Passwordqwer, Password000..
AVE, MAX	Leading frequent phrase, first one is capital	password	123Password, xxxPassword, abcPassword, 000Password..
AVE, MAX	Symbols as prefix and suffix, first one is capital	password	#Password#, -Password-, Password ..
MAX	Frequent phrase at the end, all caps	password	PASSWORD123, PASSWORDxxx, PASSWORDqwer ...
MAX	Leading frequent phrase, all caps	password	123PASSWORD, xxxPASSWORD, abcPASSWORD ...
MAX	Symbols as prefix and suffix, all caps	password	#PASSWORD#, -PASSWORD-, PASSWORD ...

Freak mutation

Changes some symbols to similar ones (a.k.a. the "hacker slang" or "hacker jargon").

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	All letters are replaced	password	p@$$w0rd
MIN, AVE, MAX	One letter is replaced	password	p@ssword, pa$sword .. passw0rd
AVE, MAX	All letters except one are replaced	password	pa$$w0rd, p@s$w0rd, p@$$word ..
MAX	All possible replacements, one letter is capital	password	P@$$w0rd, p@$$W0rd, p@$$w0rD ..

Abbreviation mutation

Shorten some words by using phonetically similar digits.

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	One word is shortened (hate – h8, you – u etc), all small	ihateyou	ih8you, ihateu
MIN, AVE, MAX	All words are shortened, all small	ihateyou	ih8u
AVE, MAX	One word is shortened, first letter is capital	ihateyou	Ih8you, Ihateu
AVE, MAX	All words are shortened, first letter is capital	ihateyou	Ih8u
MAX	One word is shortened, all caps	ihateyou	IH8YOU, IHATEU
MAX	All words are shortened, all caps	ihateyou	IH8U

Order mutation

Change symbols order, duplicate or triplicate the word.

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Reversed letter order, all small	password	drowssap
MIN, AVE, MAX	Word duplication, all small	password	passwordpassword
MIN, AVE, MAX	Duplication with mirroring, all small	password	passworddrowssap
MIN, AVE, MAX	Word triplication, all small	password	passwordpasswordpassword
AVE, MAX	Reversed letter order, first is capital	password	Drowssap
AVE, MAX	Word duplication, first is capital	password	PasswordPassword
AVE, MAX	Duplication with mirroring, first is capital	password	PasswordDrowssap
AVE, MAX	Word triplication, first is capital	password	PasswordPasswordPassword
MAX	Reversed letter order, all caps	password	DROWSSAP
MAX	Word duplication, all caps	password	PASSWORDPASSWORD
MAX	Duplication with mirroring, all caps	password	PASSWORDDROWSSAP
MAX	Word triplication, all caps	password	PASSWORDPASSWORDPASSWORD

Vowel mutation

Play with vowels

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Remove all vowels	password	psswrd
MIN, AVE, MAX	All consonants are uppercase	password	PaSSWoRD
MIN, AVE, MAX	All vowels are uppercase	password	pAsswOrd
AVE, MAX	Remove all vowels, first letter is capital	password	Psswrd
MAX	Remove all vowels, all caps	password	PSSWRD

Strip mutation

Strip some characters

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Remove one letter	password	assword, pssword, pasword ..
AVE, MAX	Remove one letter, first one is capital	password	assword, Pssword, Pasword ..
MAX	Remove one letter, all caps	password	ASSWORD, PSSWORD, PASWORD ..

Swap mutation

Swap some characters

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Change 2 letters order, all small	password	apssword, psasword, password ..
AVE, MAX	Change 2 letters order, first one is capital	password	Apssword, Psasword, Password ..
MAX	Change 2 letters order, all caps	password	APSSWORD, PSASWORD, PASSWORD ..

Duplication mutation

Duplicate characters

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Duplicate one letter, all small	password	ppassword, paassword, passsword, passwword ..
MIN, AVE, MAX	Duplicate last letter many times, all small	password	passwordd, passworddd, passworddd .. passworddddddddd
AVE, MAX	Duplicate one letter, first one is capital	password	Ppassword, Paassword, Passsword, Passwword ..
MAX	Duplicate one letter, all caps	password	PPASSWORD, PAASSWORD, PASSSWORD, PASSWWORD ..
MAX	Duplicate first letter many times, all small	password	ppassword, pppassword, pppassword .. pppppppppassword

Delimiter mutation

Delimit characters by special symbols

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Insert symbols between letters, all small	password	p.a.s.s.w.o.r.d, p+a+s+s+w+o+r+d, passwor*d ..
AVE, MAX	Insert symbols between letters, first one is capital	password	P.a.s.s.w.o.r.d, P+a+s+s+w+o+r+d, Passwor*d ..
MAX	Insert symbols between letters, all caps	password	P.A.S.S.W.O.R.D, P+A+S+S+W+O+R+D, PASSWOR*D ..

Year mutation

Adding year as prefix of suffix

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Using year as a suffix, all small	password	password1990, password1991 .. password 2020
AVE, MAX	Using year as a suffix, first one is capital	password	Password1970, Password1971 .. Password 2020
MAX	Using year as a suffix, all caps	password	PASSWORD1900, PASSWORD1901 .. PASSWORD 2050

Shift mutation

Shift all symbols in the word

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Shift all the letters, all small	password	asswordp, dpasswor
AVE, MAX	Shift all the letters, first one is capital	password	Asswordp, Dpasswor
AVE, MAX	Shift all the letters, first initial letter is capital	password	asswordP, dPasswor
MAX	Shift all the letters, all caps	password	ASSWORDP, DPASSWOR

Substitution mutation

Substitute characters with another ones

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Replace character to another one, all small	password	oassword, [assword, lassword ..
AVE, MAX	Replace character to another one, first one is capital	password	Oassword, {assword, Lassword ..
MAX	Replace character to another one, all caps	password	OASSWORD, {ASSWORD, LASSWORD ..

Length mutation

Trim the word

Level	Description	Word	Result
MIN, AVE, MAX	Trim right, all small	password	passwor, passwo, passw ..
MIN, AVE, MAX	Trim left, all small	password	assword, ssword, sword ..
AVE, MAX	Trim right, first one is capital	password	Passwor, Passwo, Passw ..
AVE, MAX	Trim left, first one is capital	password	Assword, Ssword, Sword ..
MAX	Trim right, all caps	password	PASSWORD, PASSWO, PASSW ..
MAX	Trim left, all caps	password	ASSWORD, SSWORD, SWORD ..

Dictionary Mutations