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Hydra

Score9 out of 10

1 Reviews and Ratings

What is Hydra?

Hydra is a password cracking tool used for penetration testing.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Hydra.
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Hydra, a really useful tool for penetration testing.

Incentivized
Verified User
Professional in Customer Service (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Hydra in our organization to provide a penetration testing solution for several clients that need such a service. The tool is used in conjunction with some other penetration tools offered in Kali Linux virtual machines. The scope here is to test different client services with brute force (FTP, TLENE, SSH, etc.).

Pros

  • 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).

Cons

  • 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.

Most Important Features

  • One important feature is the high number of supported protocols (FTP, POP3, IMAP, SSH, VNC, etc.)
  • In regards to pricing, the tool is free to use.
  • The performance of the tool is very good (it is also fast) and also it is compatible with lots of devices.
  • It can be used to launch parallel brute force cracking attacks.

Return on Investment

  • 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.

Alternatives Considered

John the Ripper

Other Software Used

PortSwigger Burp Suite