Computed Hashes. In the context of password cracking, which term best describes hashes that have been generated during the process?

• A. Computed Hashes
• B. RainbowCrack
• C. Rainbow Table Attack
• D. Rainbow Table

Answer: (A)

In password cracking, you test candidate passwords by applying the same hash function used to store the password, producing a hash for each guess. These results are what you’re looking at during the process, so they’re called computed hashes—the hashes created on the fly from the guessed inputs. They’re not precomputed or stored in a table, which is what rainbow tables and related terms refer to.

Rainbow tables are large precomputed collections that map hashes back to plaintexts, used to speed up cracking without hashing every guess on the fly. Rainbow table attack describes the method of using those tables, and RainbowCrack is a tool associated with creating and using rainbow tables. Since the question is about the hashes generated during the process itself, computed hashes is the best descriptor.