John the Ripper

John the Ripper application works in command line mode and allows you to pick various passwords. There are several modes of operation, which are effective for different situations. For simple passwords you can use the dictionary search, in many cases you can get results faster.

Installation and usage

The application supports various modern algorithms for encrypting texts, including MD5, blowfish and DES. AFS and Windows NT settings can also be used in the process. To install the application, just unzip the downloaded archive into the desired directory. All work is performed in command line format, to run it in Windows environment it is necessary to use the standard combination Win+X. To run the file, you can simply drag the shortcut to the desired window and confirm the action with Enter. The number of parameters is minimal, which allows you to quickly get used to the program.

Key values

Use the console to specify the path to the password file you want to crack (you can also use drag-and-drop). You should also select one of the operating modes or leave the default setting if it is difficult to choose a suitable one. After that, the application starts searching through the combinations to get the initial set. If the process completes successfully, the result is saved as a new file. You can open it with any editor, for example Notepad. To activate the external mode it is necessary to activate the command "-external" (a dash at the beginning is mandatory for all instructions). If you want to run the search by a ready-made dictionary, you should use the command "-stdout". The "-test" construct allows you to check the correctness of the basic operations.

Features

• the application allows you to crack encrypted passwords;
• the application works in command line mode;
• various encryption algorithms are supported;
• can be launched by drag-and-drop;
• various modes of operation, including dictionary search.