Question

Which of these creates a format of the candidate password to significantly reduce the time needed to crack a password?

1) Rainbow
2) Overlay
3) Pass the hash
4) Mask

Answer 1

A Rainbow Table significantly reduces the time needed to crack a password by using precomputed tables to reverse cryptographic hash functions and find plaintext passwords corresponding to hash values.

Step-by-step explanation:

The technology that creates a format of the candidate password to significantly reduce the time needed to crack a password is a Rainbow Table. A Rainbow Table is a precomputed table for reversing cryptographic hash functions, primarily for cracking password hashes.

It works by comparing the password hash to the precomputed hashes in the table; if a match is found, the corresponding plaintext password is retrieved. Rainbow tables are effective against passwords which do not have added complexity, such as utilizing salt.

Each table contains a list of hash chains used for the attack. Salting adds unique data to each password hash to prevent this type of attack. The Pass the hash technique, on the other hand, uses a different approach by directly using the hash in an attack rather than trying to decipher it.