An attacker captures the hash of a password and compares it with the precomputed hash table. If a match is found, the password is cracked. What is this process called?

An attacker captures the hash of a password and compares it with the precomputed hash table. If a match is found, the password is cracked. What is this process called?

• A. Rainbow Table Attack
• B. Compare the Hashes
• C. RainbowCrack
• D. Rainbow Table

Answer: (B)

The scenario describes using a precomputed set of hash values to reverse a password hash, which is known as a rainbow table attack. A rainbow table is a compiled dataset that maps possible passwords to their hashes (often using a chain technique to cover many possibilities with less storage). When the attacker captures a hash and searches the table for a matching hash, they can recover the original password if a match is found. This naming reflects the technique of performing lookups in a large precomputed hash dataset to reveal the plaintext, rather than just performing a simple hash comparison or naming a specific tool or the data structure itself.

The scenario describes using a precomputed set of hash values to reverse a password hash, which is known as a rainbow table attack. A rainbow table is a compiled dataset that maps possible passwords to their hashes (often using a chain technique to cover many possibilities with less storage). When the attacker captures a hash and searches the table for a matching hash, they can recover the original password if a match is found. This naming reflects the technique of performing lookups in a large precomputed hash dataset to reveal the plaintext, rather than just performing a simple hash comparison or naming a specific tool or the data structure itself.