Do you think the system administrator has access to a program that can decode user passwords? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Normally, the system administrator cannot decode user passwords. The
administrator can assign a new password to a user. Passwords are generally

encrypted by a one-way hash so the system can tell when the correct pass-
word is entered, but it cannot regenerate the cleartext password. The system

applies the hash algorithm to the entered password and checks whether the
result matches the stored, encrypted password. A match means the correct
password was entered.
However, if a user has a weak password, the system administrator can use
a program such as crack or John the Ripper to decode a password. You can
download either of these utilities using yum. The packages are named crack
and john.