What are the type of password attacks? What can a systems administrator do to protect against the

: What are the type of password attacks? What can a systems administrator do to protect against them?

A: There are 4 different types of password attacks. These types of attacks are brute force, dictionary, rainbow tables, and social engineering.

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1. Brute force password attacks involve using a program to try every possible combination of a password in order to gain access. These types of attacks can be easily avoided by simply adopting modern recommended security measures, such as making passwords case-sensitive and including numbers and special characters.
2. Dictionary attacks are similar to brute force attacks in that they attempt to run through combinations to break through a password, but they are more personalized to the potential victim, as the hacker uses a dictionary of terms and phrases associated with the person whose account is being hacked. These could include pet names, family names, birthdays, etc. These are also easily avoided by not making one’s password anything to do with them.
3. Rainbow Table attacks access encrypted password files to attempt to figure out a password. These files contain representations of a password instead of the actual password, making it easier for a hacker to figure out a password than simply trying to figure out a combination. These attacks can be avoided by keeping these encrypted files in a safe place that hackers would not have access to.
4. Social Engineering attacks involve a hacker posing as a someone trustworthy in order to gain access to an account by getting password information directly from the user. This can be avoided by simply verifying that the person you are speaking with is in fact someone that you trust.

Whitman, Michael E., and Herbert J. Mattord. Principles of Information Security. 5th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2016. Print.