15.6 John the RipperJohn the Ripper, whose name is inspired by the Victorian mass murderer, Jack the Ripper, is designed to invoke terror in the minds of SysAdmins and it does. If a cracker can get a copy of your /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow file (as appropriate for your system), John the Ripper will crack passwords systematically. You, too, should run it and see whether any of your passwords can be cracked too easily. Assuming that a cracker might let it run for a few days if you have an attractive site is reasonable. It may be copied from the CD-ROM or downloaded from www.openwall.com/john/ Be sure to inspect the source code for Trojans before use. |
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