Ever wondered how your seemingly harmless posts could lead to a password list being created with your data?
I used to think the privacy paranoia was over the top—people deleting old posts and going full incognito mode. But here’s the hard truth: attackers don’t need to guess your password—they just use your public information to build the perfect list.
The Danger of Being Too Public.
It hit me hard: every piece of personal information I’d ever posted—from my birthday to my favorite band—was practically a cheat sheet for anyone trying to guess my password. That realization led me down a rabbit hole into how password lists are created. In this story, I’ll walk you through how attackers—or ethical hackers—generate these lists, and how something as simple as a birthday can open doors you thought were locked. We’ll even build one using Crunch inside Termux. By the end, you might rethink what you share online too.
The Problem with Oversharing
Attackers don’t need to hack into your brain to guess your password. They just need to scrape your social media. Think: names of your kids, pets, favorite K-pop group, or the year you graduated high school. It’s not hacking, it’s harvesting—and unfortunately, most people do the planting themselves.
A password list is the digital crowbar. It’s a file full of guesses, sometimes pulled from known leaks, other times crafted specifically for a target using public data. The more personalized it is, the more dangerous it becomes.
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What Is a Password List?
In hacking (and ethical hacking), a password list is a text file filled with possible passwords. Tools like Hydra or John the Ripper use these lists to attempt logins in rapid succession—a technique known as a brute force or dictionary attack.
Some lists, like the infamous rockyou.txt, are massive compilations of real leaked passwords. But these aren’t always effective. A custom password list tailored to a specific person is often far more powerful.
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A Real-World Example: Meet Calista
Let’s say Maria is your target (educationally speaking).
Her Facebook profile is public:
- Name: Calista Dela Cruz
- Born: 1996
- Dog’s name: Bruno
- Favorite band: BTS
- Mobile number ends in: 0921
Using this information, you could generate a set of educated guesses like:
- calista1996
- bruno0921
- mariaBTS
- bts1996
Now imagine automating the creation of thousands of these combinations using Crunch.
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Generating a Custom Password List Using Crunch in Termux
⚠️ Disclaimer: The following is for educational and ethical hacking purposes only. Don’t use this knowledge for malicious activity.
Step 1: Install Crunch in Termux
pkg update && pkg install crunchStep 2: Learn the Basic Syntax
crunch <min> <max> <options><min>and<max>are the minimum and maximum lengths of passwords.- You can include a character set (like lowercase letters, numbers, etc.).
- Use
-oto output to a file.
Step 3: Generate Sample Password Lists
Combining Multiple Personal Clues
You can create smarter, more targeted password lists by combining details like names, birth years, or favorite words using Crunch’s pattern feature.
Crunch lets you define patterns using placeholders:
@for lowercase letters^for uppercase letters%for numbers
To generate combinations like calista1996 or bts1996, you can use:
crunch 10 10 -t calista@@@@ -o calista1996.txtor
crunch 8 8 -t bts1996@ -o bts1996list.txtWhile Crunch doesn’t natively combine full words from a list, you can still experiment with mixing personal terms and number patterns manually or by running multiple Crunch commands.
Keep it simple, keep it targeted—and remember, the goal is to mimic what a lazy but determined attacker might do.
Numeric-only (6-digit PINs):
crunch 6 6 0123456789 -o pinlist.txtNames + Numbers (Maria1996-style):
crunch 10 10 -t calista@@@@@@ -o calista1996.txtThis will produce combinations like maria123456, maria199607, etc.
Step 4: Preview Output
To avoid massive files, always preview before scaling:
head calista1996.txtSample output:
calista000001
calista000002
calista000003
...⚠️ Warning: Crunch Can Eat Your Storage
Crunch is powerful but dumb. Without limits, it can generate millions (or billions) of combinations that your device can’t handle. Always narrow down your pattern and test with short ranges.
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Intelligent Password List Generation
Building smarter password lists isn’t just about brute force—it’s about understanding human behavior. People tend to choose passwords that are familiar, easy to remember, and emotionally significant. That’s where intelligence comes in.
Instead of going wide (every possible 8-character combo), go deep: focus on combinations rooted in the target’s reality. Think birthdays, names, favorite shows, or fandom references. These are the ingredients of an effective, personalized password list—and Crunch gives us the tools to bake it.
If you want even more intelligent generation based on contextual rules, look into:
- Cewl: Scrapes custom words from target websites
- John the Ripper’s “ feature
- Crunch + scripting for chained generation
Always preview your list before scaling. You can then feed the final customlist.txt into tools like Hydra or John the Ripper.
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The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters
This isn’t just a party trick for aspiring hackers. This is how real attackers think. It’s a reminder that everything you post online is another puzzle piece.
The good news? You can defend yourself:
- Use long, complex passwords.
- Avoid using personal info.
- Use a password manager.
- Enable two-factor authentication.
Password lists aren’t going away. But your data doesn’t have to make it easy.
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Rethink What You Share
Every tweet, photo caption, or About Me bio could be helping someone craft the perfect password list. The next time you’re tempted to post your birthday or your dog’s name, remember Calista.
If you found this guide practical and a bit eye-opening, consider subscribing. I send out periodic updates on cybersecurity, digital self-defense, and tech tutorials like this one—always from an ethical hacking and FOSS perspective.
It’s like a password manager for your knowledge: secure, practical, and made for humans.
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