Additionally, John the Ripper is an open source tool used for fast password cracking. Its primary focus is UNIX-based operating systems, but also Windows LanMan (LM) hashes. For example, a tool such as Hashcat (hashcat.net/hashcat) is run using the following general syntax:
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hashcat -m HashType -a AttackMode -o OutputFile InputHashFile
The input file should contain hashes of the same type, using the specified format (hashcat.net/wiki/doku.php?id=example_hashes). Hashcat can be used with a single word list (dictionary mode -a 0) or multiple word lists (combinator mode -a 1). Mode -a 3 performs a brute-force attack, but this can be combined with a mask for each character position. This reduces the key space that must be searched and speeds up the attack. For example, you might learn or intuit that a company uses only letter characters in passwords. By omitting numeric and symbol characters, you can speed up the attack on each hash.
Running a masked brute-force attack—this example is running on a VM, so the recovery rate is very low. (Screenshot hashcat hashcat.net/hashcat.) ```