Recovering Internet Explorer Passwords: Theory and Practice

Introduction
Types of passwords stored in Internet Explorer
    Internet Credentials
    AutoComplete data
    AutoComplete passwords
    FTP passwords
    Synchronization passwords
    Identities passwords
    AutoForms data
    Content Advisor password
Brief overview of Internet Explorer password recovery programs
PIEPR - the first acquaintance
Three real-life examples
    Recovering current user's FTP passwords
    Recovering website passwords from unloadable operating system
    Recovering uncommonly stored passwords
Conclusion

Introduction

Nobody will likely dispute the fact that Internet Explorer is today's most popular Web browser. According to the statistics, approximately 70% of online users prefer to use just this program. Arguments about its pros and cons may last forever; still, this browser is the leader of its industry, and this is a fact that requires no proof. Internet Explorer carries several built-in technologies, designed to make average user's life easier. One of them - IntelliSense - is made for taking care of the routine tasks, like the automatic completion of visited webpage addresses, automatic filling of form fields, users' passwords, etc.

Many of today's websites require registration, which means, user would have to enter user name and password. If you use more than a dozen of such websites, you will likely need a password manager. All modern browsers have a built-in password manager in their arsenal, and Internet Explorer is not an odd. Indeed, why would one have to remember yet another password if it is going to be forgotten some time soon anyway? Much easier would be to have browser do the routine work of remembering and storing passwords for you. It's convenient and comfortable.

This would be a totally perfect solution; however, if your Windows operating system crashed or reinstalled not the way it's supposed to be reinstalled, you can easily lose the entire list of your precious passwords. That's the toll for the comfort and convenience. It's good just about every website has a saving 'I forgot password' button. However, this button will not always take your headache from you.

Each software developer solves the forgotten password recovery problem their own way. Some of them officially recommend copying a couple of important files to another folder, while other send all registered users a special utility that allows managing the migration of private data, and the third ones pretend they are not seeing the problem. Nevertheless, the demand creates the offer, and password recovery programs are currently on a great demand.

In this article, let's try to classify types of private data stored in Internet Explorer, look at programs for the recovery of the data, and study real-life examples of recovering lost Internet passwords.

 

Types of passwords stored in Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer may store the following types of passwords:

• Internet Credentials
• AutoComplete Data
• AutoComplete Passwords
• FTP Passwords
• Synchronization Passwords for cached websites
• Identities Passwords
• AutoForms Data
• Content Advisor Password

Let's take a closer look at each listed item.

Internet Credentials for websites

Internet credentials mean user's logins and passwords required for accessing certain websites, which are processed by the wininet.dll library. For example, when you try to enter the protected area of a website, you may see the following user name and password prompt (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Internet Credentials dialog.
Article By Ivan Orlov

Keywords: internet, explorer, ie, internet explorer, password, recovery, change, find, forgot, remove, lost, software, reset, cracker, browser, asterisk, decryp

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