What is the difference between the enable password and the enable secret password when service password encryption is enabled on an IOS device?
A. The enable secret password is protected via stronger cryptography mechanisms.
B. The enable password cannot be decrypted.
C. The enable password is encrypted with a stronger encryption method.
D. There is no difference and both passwords are encrypted identically.
Answer:A
What is the difference between the enable password and the enable secret password when service password encryption is enabled on an IOS device?
A. The enable secret password is protected via stronger cryptography mechanisms. B. The enable password cannot be decrypted. C. The enable password is encrypted with a stronger encryption method. D. There is no difference and both passwords are encrypted identically.
Explanation: The “enable secret” password is always encrypted (independent of the “service passwordencryption” command) using MD5 hash algorithm. The “enable password” does not encrypt the password and can be view in clear text in the running-config. In order to encrypt the “enable password”, use the “service password-encryption” command. This command will encrypt the passwords by using the Vigenere encryption algorithm. Unfortunately, the Vigenere encryption method is cryptographically weak and trivial to reverse.