Introduction to Hashcat

Hashcat is a powerful password recovery tool used for brute-force attacks. It can crack various types of passwords using different algorithms. It's widely used in cybersecurity for testing password strength and identifying vulnerabilities.

Unlike other tools, Hashcat supports multiple attack modes including dictionary, combinator, brute-force, and hybrid attacks. It can utilize both CPU and GPU resources, making it highly efficient for large-scale password cracking tasks.

Hashcat is employed by penetration testers and security professionals to audit password security. It helps in identifying weak passwords and enforcing stronger policies. Surprisingly, it can also be used for forensic investigations to recover lost passwords.

Hashcat supports a wide range of hash algorithms such as MD5, SHA-1, and bcrypt. It also offers features like rule-based attacks and mask attacks, enabling users to customize their cracking strategies for better efficiency and success rates.

While Hashcat is a powerful tool, it's crucial to use it ethically and legally. Unauthorized use can lead to legal consequences. It's intended for security testing, educational purposes, and password recovery with proper consent.

Hashcat once cracked 100 billion MD5 hashes in just 3 days using a supercomputer cluster, showcasing its unparalleled speed and efficiency.