Tony is a penetration tester tasked with performing a penetration test. After gaining initial access to a target system, he finds a list of hashed passwords.
Which of the following tools would not be useful for cracking the hashed passwords?
In CEH v13 Module 05: System Hacking, once an attacker gains access to hashed passwords, cracking tools are employed to reverse or brute-force them.
Tool Breakdown:
John the Ripper: A powerful password cracking tool that supports many hash formats.
Hashcat: GPU-based, extremely fast password hash cracking tool.
THC-Hydra: Used for online attacks (e.g., SSH, FTP brute force).
Netcat: Not a password cracking tool — it’s a network utility used for:
Remote shell connections
Banner grabbing
File transfers
Port scanning
Therefore:
C. Netcat is the correct answer — it is not used for password cracking.
[Reference:, Module 05 – Password Cracking Techniques and Tools, CEH Labs: Using Hashcat and John the Ripper on Extracted Hashes, , ]
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