
This tool also highlights the importance of choosing a strong randomized password. John the Ripper determines the hash type of the password file and then attempts to find a match for those hashes. When combined with a hefty word list such as the infamous rockyou.txt, the tool can make short work of simple passwords. John the Ripper is a password cracking tool capable or breaking a variety of hash types. Let us first take a look at how the tool works. John the Ripper is a fantastic tool for ripping apart password hashes. This can be a gold mine if you can crack the password hashes.

It is not unheard of to come across a file containing password hashes during a penetration testing engagement.

In this article we describe how to crack password hashes with John the Ripper (JtR).
