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Showing posts from July 1, 2018

Use Beginner Python to Build a Brute-Force Tool for SHA-1 Hashes

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Developers creating login systems know better than to store passwords in plain text, usually storing hashes of a password to prevent storing the credentials in a way a hacker could steal. Due to the way hashes work, not all are created equal. Some are more vulnerable than others, and a little Python could be used to brute-force any weak hashes to get the passwords they were created from. A Little Bit About Hashes Hackers often steal entire databases of user login and password data, and because of this, hashes are the preferred way to store sensitive information like passwords. Hashes are different from encryption because they do not store data. Instead, the number that makes up a hash is the result of a calculation run on whatever it is you're hashing, be it a password or an entire file. This is used to ensure that the file you are downloading matches the file you're intending to download or to confirm the password the user entered matches the password they signed u