I read about password cracking capability rates of 1200 passwords per second, 100,000 passwords per second, etc., and hence the need for strong passwords. These rates seem pretty impressive and scary enough to convence me to use stronger passwords. However, there is still a nagging question in my mind. It is not all that difficult for me to imagine software and computers with the capability of generating trial passwords at those rates. What I cannot comprehend, though, is how can any software submit passwords to some system or program for verification and determine either success or failure at those high rates? Unfortunately, my computer experience is primarily limited to scientific number crunching, and I have been using computers for 43 years now (since the IBM 709) and logging on since the first telex terminals. It always seems to me that system response to an entered password and the resulting acceptance or rejection is a comparatively slow process. If someone could clue me in on this I would appreciate it. I don't need any details (probably would not understand them anyway), but just a general idea as to how it is possible to both generate and verify passwords at those high speeds?