Hashcat

Key Usages:

1. Dictionary Attack: Utilizes a wordlist to try potential passwords.

   hashcat -a 0 -m 0 hashes.txt wordlist.txt

2. Brute Force Attack: Tries all possible combinations of characters.

   hashcat -a 3 -m 0 hashes.txt ?a?a?a?a

3. Combinator Attack: Combines words from two wordlists.

   hashcat -a 1 -m 0 hashes.txt wordlist1.txt wordlist2.txt

4. Mask Attack: Uses patterns to reduce the search space.

   hashcat -a 3 -m 0 hashes.txt ?u?l?l?l?d?d

5. Hybrid Attack: Combines dictionary and mask attacks.

   hashcat -a 6 -m 0 hashes.txt wordlist.txt ?d?d

Tips and Tricks:

1. Optimize Performance:

   • Use --force to bypass warnings.

   • Utilize GPU acceleration with appropriate drivers.

   • Adjust workload tuning with -w (e.g., -w 3 for high).

2. Efficient Mask Usage:

   • Use masks to focus on probable patterns (e.g., ?l?l?l?d?d for three letters followed by two digits).

3. Rule-Based Attacks:

   • Enhance dictionary attacks with rules to generate variations.

   hashcat -a 0 -m 0 hashes.txt wordlist.txt -r rules/best64.rule

4. Session Management:

   • Save and restore sessions to manage long-running tasks.

   hashcat -m 0 -a 3 hashes.txt ?a?a?a?a --session=mySession
   hashcat --restore mySession

5. Hash Modes:

   • Specify the correct hash mode (-m) for your target hash type (e.g., -m 1000 for NTLM).

6. Output Management:

   • Save cracked passwords to a file.

   hashcat -m 0 -a 0 hashes.txt wordlist.txt -o found.txt

By understanding and applying these usages, tips, and tricks, you can leverage Hashcat effectively for password cracking in various scenarios.