nerdexam
EC-Council

312-50V12 · Question #111

Tony is a penetration tester tasked with performing a penetration test. After gaining initial access to a target system, he finds a list of hashed passwords. Which of the following tools would not be

The correct answer is D. Netcat. This question tests knowledge of password cracking tools versus other network utility tools used in penetration testing.

Submitted by joshua94· Mar 4, 2026System Hacking Phases and Attack Techniques

Question

Tony is a penetration tester tasked with performing a penetration test. After gaining initial access to a target system, he finds a list of hashed passwords. Which of the following tools would not be useful for cracking the hashed passwords?

Options

  • AHashcat
  • BJohn the Ripper
  • CTHC-Hydra
  • DNetcat

How the community answered

(50 responses)
  • A
    2% (1)
  • C
    4% (2)
  • D
    94% (47)

Why each option

This question tests knowledge of password cracking tools versus other network utility tools used in penetration testing.

AHashcat

Hashcat is a widely-used, GPU-accelerated password recovery tool that supports over 300 hash types and attack modes including dictionary, brute-force, and rule-based attacks, making it highly effective for cracking hashed passwords.

BJohn the Ripper

John the Ripper is a popular open-source password cracking tool that supports numerous hash formats and can perform dictionary, brute-force, and hybrid attacks against offline password hashes.

CTHC-Hydra

THC-Hydra is primarily an online password attack tool used for brute-forcing live authentication services, but it can also be used in credential-based attacks; however, it is less suited for offline hash cracking compared to Hashcat or John the Ripper, it is still associated with password attack toolsets rather than generic network utilities.

DNetcatCorrect

Netcat is a general-purpose networking utility used for reading and writing data across network connections using TCP/UDP, functioning as a 'Swiss army knife' for network communication tasks like port scanning, banner grabbing, and creating reverse shells. It has no capability to perform password hash cracking or analysis, making it entirely unsuitable for offline password hash attacks.

Concept tested: Password hash cracking tools identification in pentesting

Source: https://www.kali.org/tools/hashcat/

Topics

#Password cracking#Hashed passwords#John the Ripper#Hashcat#Netcat

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full 312-50V12 Practice