🔐 Top Password & Hash Tools for Ethical Hacking & Cybersecurity

Password and hash tools are essential for cracking password hashes, generating hash values, auditing password strength, and performing forensic investigations.

Below are the most widely used tools in cybersecurity for password assessment and hash analysis.

🔥 1. Hashcat — Advanced Password Cracker

Official Website / Download:

https://hashcat.net/hashcat/

✅ Steps to Install

Linux

sudo apt update
sudo apt install hashcat

Windows

Download ZIP → Extract → Run hashcat.exe

https://hashcat.net/hashcat/

📝 How to Use

• List available attack modes:

hashcat --help

• Crack an MD5 hash using a wordlist:

hashcat -m 0 hash.txt wordlist.txt

• Resume cracking:

hashcat --restore

Used for:

Hash cracking, password audits, forensic recovery, red team assessments.

🔥 2. John the Ripper — Password Cracking Tool

Official Download:

https://www.openwall.com/john/

✅ Steps to Install

Linux

sudo apt install john

Windows

Download ‘Jumbo’ build:

https://www.openwall.com/john/#win

Extract → Run via Command Prompt.

📝 How to Use

• Crack password hash:

john hash.txt

• Show cracked passwords:

john --show hash.txt

• Generate wordlist with rules:

john --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt --rules hash.txt

Used for:

Cracking system hashes, brute-force testing, dictionary attacks.

🔥 3. Hash Identifier (Offline + Online)

Online Tool:

https://hashes.com/en/tools/hash_identifier

Offline Version (HashID Tool):

https://github.com/psypanda/hashID

✅ Steps to Install (Offline Version)

git clone https://github.com/psypanda/hashID
cd hashID
python3 hashid.py -h

📝 How to Use

python3 hashid.py <hash>

Used for:

Identifying unknown hash types (MD5, SHA1, NTLM, bcrypt, etc.).

Helps determine which cracking tool & mode to use.

🔥 4. Crunch — Wordlist Generator

Official Link:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/

✅ Steps to Install

Linux

sudo apt install crunch

Windows

Use with Cygwin or WSL.

📝 How to Use

• Generate all combinations of 8 characters:

crunch 8 8

• Generate a wordlist with a specific pattern:

crunch 8 8 -t BugiT%%% >> wordlist.txt

Used for:

Custom wordlist creation for brute-force attacks, password audits, and CTFs.

🔥 5. Ophcrack — Windows Password Recovery

Official Download:

https://ophcrack.sourceforge.io/

✅ Steps to Install

Download Windows installer → Run setup.

Linux ISO also available for boot recovery.

📝 How to Use

• Open Ophcrack → Load SAM file or tables

• Start cracking → It recovers passwords using rainbow tables.

Used for:

Recovering Windows login passwords via rainbow table attacks.

🔥 6. CyberChef — The Cyber Swiss Army Knife

Online Tool:

https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/

📝 How to Use

• Drag-and-drop operations (hash, decode, encode).

• Convert between MD5, SHA1, SHA256, Base64, Hex, Binary.

• Perform XOR, ROT13, URL decode, encoding, and more.

Used for:

Hashing, decoding, encoding, analyzing malware, transforming data.