A Rainbow Table Attack involves using a precomputed table of hash values for every possiblecombination of characters for a given password policy. This table, known as a rainbow table, is then used to look up the corresponding plaintext password for a given hash value. The process involves the following steps:
Precomputation: Generate therainbow table by computing hash values for all possible password combinations according to the password policy.
Storage: Store these precomputed hash values in a table, associating each with its plaintext password.
Lookup: When a hash value is obtained during a password cracking attempt, search the rainbow table for the corresponding plaintext password.
Match: If a match is found, the plaintext password associated with the hash value is the cracked password.
Rainbow tables are effective because they trade storage space for time, allowing for quicker password cracking compared to brute-force or dictionary attacks, which compute hash values on the fly.
[References: The EC-Council’s materials on password cracking techniques discuss various methods including dictionary attacks, brute-force attacks, and rainbow table attacks. Specifically, the EC-Council Learning Paths and Skill Packs provide detailed insights into these techniques, emphasizing the use of rainbow tables as a method of cracking passwords by comparing precomputed hash values to those obtained from a system12. Additionally, EC-Council’s CyberQ platform offers practical exercises related to password cracking, including the use of rainbow tables2., , , , Reference: https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/~collberg/Teaching/466-566/2012/Resources/presentations/2012/ topic7-final/report.pdf, ]
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