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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Hydra

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AHydra is a password cracking tool used for penetration testing.N/A

    John the Ripper

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AJohn the Ripper is a penetration testing tool used to find and crack weak passwords.N/A
    Pricing
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Editions & Modules
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    Chose Hydra
    There are many other tools similar to Hydra, one of them being "John the Ripper ". Notable differences are that while John the Ripper works offline, Hydra works online; also Hydra is more popular and with a wider usage as it supports Windows, Linux, and macOSX. An important …
    Incentivized
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
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    Delivers good value for the price
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    Happy with the feature set
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    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
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    Implementation went as expected
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    Best Alternatives
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
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    Medium-sized Companies
    Metasploit
    Score9 out of 10
    Metasploit
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Metasploit
    Score9 out of 10
    Metasploit
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HydraJohn the Ripper
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    One scenario that fits well Hydra's ability is to test the strength of Drupal usernames and passwords. So, as an example, if we have a Drupal site at some HTTP web address, we could use lots of methods in order to collect a list with some valid users. After we create the list and also the list of some possible passwords we can try to initiate a Hydra brute force attack. Hydra for example is not suited for finding the vulnerabilities of a host, for this other solutions can be used.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    It is best suited in those environments where complexity is not the key. We've used it fairly extensively in our UNIX to find weak UNIX passwords and in Windows environments too. It's very easy to get hold of as it is essentially Open Source, although a paid version is now available and we are thinking of looking at this proposition in-depth to see if it is viable. We found it easy to install and deploy across our systems. Patching was fairly regular, so we always had the latest version. It holds its own against DES and Blowfish encryption algorithms among many others.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Open Source
    • One of most important thing is that Hydra's ability to perform HTTP post form attacks.
    • The tool also can be used to attack a great number of protocols.
    • The source code of the tool/software is also available for others (so it is not a closed source one).
    • A good thing about this tool is also the support available and it also has a high ranking on GitHub (over 1000 stars).
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Easily finds plantect passwords.
    • Simply detects passwords hashes.
    • Has a fully bespoke cracker that can be modified to users requirements.
    • Excellent for UNIX and Windows usage.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Open Source
    • It is not a straightforward tool to use, it needs certain dependencies to be installed so it can function as intended by its creators. This is one of the most important steps that need to be done while configuring the tool as one needs.
    • Sometimes the tool gives False Positives passwords.
    • There are some issues in the functionality of the tool itself (like some bugs, for example affecting the running and hanging process after a number of tries), but most of them have a solution and there is big community support for the tool.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • It needs to be modified to be able to break SHA 256, 512 and the lastest hashes.
    • Can be slow and wildly against the lastest hashes.
    • Require admin access to set up account.
    • Old and is being superseded by better applications.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    There are many other tools similar to Hydra, one of them being "John the Ripper ". Notable differences are that while John the Ripper works offline, Hydra works online; also Hydra is more popular and with a wider usage as it supports Windows, Linux, and macOSX. An important thing is that both software are free to use, making both very useful tools. We can note that JTR has also a "pro" version that is not free to use and it is more optimized for speed and performance and focused on a specific operating system, while Hydra is free and offers all features at no cost.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    'John the Ripper' being open source was free to use, whereas the others had to be paid for. It was very simple to install and runs against many hundreds of hashes and crypts. It is always developing thanks to large communities on GitHub.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • Our business objectives are accomplished using the tool as Hydra covers our needs for a free password cracking tool.
    • The tool is a free one that has a lot of advantages because it is a powerful one to use for the specific task of performing some activities that are related to penetration testing.
    • The services that our business provides for several clients in the field of penetration testing are at the level our customers are expecting.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Helped us achieve initial Password Auditor goals and targets.
    • Simple and cheap to deploy, so have saved greatly compared to paid for products.
    Incentivized
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