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So first of all I've a software which basically locks/encrypts a folder with a given password. Afterwards it's almost impossible to open the folder without entering the password through the software.

I locked some of my much needed files and accidently forgot the password.

So my question is, is it possible to retrive the hash from the encrypted folder? I'm planning to brute-force if it's possible.

If it's not, then should I reverse engineer the software to open the encrypted folder without entering the password?

What other possible options do I have?

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Brute forcing a password is always possible - at least in theory. If it is computationally feasible to derive the password hash is a different matter; it obviously depends on the complexity of the password, the work factor used by the password hash (or rather, password based key derivation function) and how the software operates. You need to find the password as brute forcing the resulting key is not likely to be feasible. Depending on the encryption software the result can be directly validated or you may need to try to (partly) decrypt a file.

Reverse engineering the encryption software cannot be used to decrypt the files; the encryption depends on the key, not on the algorithm. You may need to reverse engineer the encryption software to facilitate the brute force or dictionary attack though. Then you could integrate it with password cracking software.

If the encryption is performed correctly then finding the password is the only real option available.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm sure the password is below 6 characters, so brute forcing is feasible, isn't it? Can you tell me how to extract the hash? $\endgroup$
    – SlayerDiAngelo
    Mar 9, 2018 at 12:37
  • $\begingroup$ Can you recommend a good reverse engineering program? OLLYDBG is totally outdated. $\endgroup$
    – SlayerDiAngelo
    Mar 9, 2018 at 12:38
  • $\begingroup$ Er, no, you could have a look at the software recommendations site of stackexchange, but first read the tutorial! $\endgroup$
    – Maarten Bodewes ♦
    Mar 9, 2018 at 12:45
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    $\begingroup$ There's a Stack for that $\endgroup$
    – dave_thompson_085
    Mar 10, 2018 at 2:52
  • $\begingroup$ If this answers your question please indicate this by accepting the answer. Sorry I cannot answer the question in the comment, but that's out of scope here. $\endgroup$
    – Maarten Bodewes ♦
    Mar 12, 2018 at 15:27

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