When hackers break into the databases of the great and good, they’re often left with an encrypted password and an unencrypted password hint. As Randall Munroe points out, the hackers are essentially presented with a set of clues, the answers to which are of a known character length. In other words, a giant, modern version of a crossword puzzle, it’s a challenge for hackers to break into Adobe’s databases and find out what the answers are of the same length as the New York Times’s cryptic clues.”]
Source: https://gizmodo.com/massive-credential-hacks-are-the-crosswords-of-the-futu-1457975185