Alternatively, the attacker can attempt to guess the key which is typically created from the password using a key derivation function.
The attacker systematically checks all possible passwords and passphrases until the correct one is found. In cryptography, a brute-force attack consists of an attacker submitting many passwords or passphrases with the hope of eventually guessing correctly. The photograph shows a DES Cracker circuit board fitted with 64 Deep Crack chips using both sides. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's US$250,000 DES cracking machine contained over 1,800 custom chips and could brute-force a DES key in a matter of days. For similarly named methods in other disciplines, see Brute force.
This article is about the cryptanalytic method.
