Password Cracker

It is so easy to crack the simple passwords like "keepout" "1q2w3e".
We downloaded "john the cripper " from the website, use
gzip -dc target.tar.gz tar xf -, then cd src,make, make clean "Liux-x86-any"
run the john to crack the password file which is in /etc/passwd.
The linux stored password in /etc/passwd with crpt(3) function, so it can not be read directly by the users. But if you use the simple password like those referred before, it is easy to be cracked.
For sensitive information, you better use the password with more than 8 characters, combined with number and alphebets with upper and lower cases.
This is a really good lesson for me to know how the password can be broken so easily.