Hashcat

**What it is**
Hashcat is an open-source password recovery utility published at hashcat.net. It focuses on high-performance cracking of password hashes and related authenticators across a large set of algorithms, using CPUs, GPUs and other accelerators. Attack modes include dictionary, combination, brute-force, hybrid and association-style workflows, with rules, sessions, restore and optional distributed setups documented by the project.

**What it helps with**
- Recovering or auditing passwords from hashes obtained in an authorised engagement (for example NTLM, Kerberos, bcrypt, office documents and many application formats).
- Running dictionary, mask, hybrid and rule-based attacks against one or many hashes.
- Using GPU and multi-device setups where driver and runtime requirements are met.
- Benchmarking and tuning workloads with built-in performance and thermal controls.
- Supporting lab and training workflows for password-security awareness under controlled conditions.
- Integrating into authorised red-team or password-audit processes alongside tools that produce hash material.

**Who it's for**
Penetration testers, red teams and security engineers who need to assess password strength from hashes they are authorised to process, plus researchers studying password hashing in labs.

**Worth knowing**
Use Hashcat only on hashes and systems you are explicitly authorised to test. Cracking credentials without permission is unlawful in most jurisdictions. Hashcat is free under the MIT Licence (copyright Jens Steube). Official binaries and sources are distributed from hashcat.net; GPU drivers and compute runtimes must match the hardware. The project does not publish a large marketing wordmark; the listing logo uses the Hashcat glyph as documented by Simple Icons, with the official site favicon retained for reference. Attribution: feature and platform claims from hashcat.net/hashcat/ and the hashcat/hashcat README; licence from docs/license.txt.