These are software programs that are used to crack user passwords. We already looked at a similar tool in the above example on password strengths. The website www.md5this.com uses a rainbow table to crack passwords. We will now look at some of the commonly used tools

John the Ripper

John the Ripper uses the command prompt to crack passwords. This makes it suitable for advanced users who are comfortable working with commands. It uses to wordlist to crack passwords. The program is free but the word list has to be bought. It has free alternative wordlists that you can use. Visit the product website https://www.openwall.com/john/ for more information and how to use it.

Cain & Abel

Cain & Abel runs on windows. It is used to recover passwords for user accounts, recovery of Microsoft Access passwords; networking sniffing etc. Unlike John the ripper, Cain & Abel uses a graphic user interface. It is very common among newbies and script kiddies because of its simplicity of use. Visit the product website https://www.oxid.it/cain.html for more information and how to use it.

Ophcrack

Ophcrack is a cross platform windows password cracker that uses rainbow tables to crack passwords. It runs on windows, Linux and Mac OS. It also has a module for brute force attacks among other features. Visit the product website https://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/  for more information and how to use it.