In cracking terms, a dictionary is a word list that plugs into cracking programs as a means of “breaking” passwords. These dictionaries contain real words and those that individuals tend to choose for passwords. Because it takes only a few minutes to go through hundreds of thousands of words in a dictionary to crack a password, computer users are warned not to select a word that may be commonly found in a dictionary. In theory, users tend to select passwords that they have used previously. A popular password is NCC1701, which was the registry number for Captain James T. Kirk’s starship, the Enterprise, on the original “Star Trek” television series. Children’s names and anniversary dates are also popular passwords.

See Also: Cracking; Password.