What is the first step to crack the password?

• A. A word list is created using a dictionary generator program or dictionaries
• B. The list of dictionary words is hashed or encrypted
• C. The hashed wordlist is compared against the target hashed password, generally one word at a time
• D. If it matches, that password has been cracked and the password cracker displays the unencrypted version of the password

Answer: (B)

When cracking a password, you’re dealing with a hash you need to match. You can’t compare a plaintext dictionary word to the stored hash directly, so the first practical action is to run each candidate word through the same hashing process that was used to create the target hash. This produces a hashed candidate list that can be compared to the target hash. Only after you have these hashed candidates do you check for a match. If a candidate hash equals the target hash, you can reveal the corresponding plaintext password. So the initial move is to hash the dictionary words to produce comparable candidates, then proceed to compare and, if successful, display the recovered password.