Mode numbers matter

Guide

Hashcat modes are magic numbers. Wrong -m means wrong algorithm — your GPU will "work" and crack nothing.

Why it matters

The example hashes page (and hashcat --help / -hh) is canonical. Thirty seconds of mode confirmation beats thirty minutes of 0/0 status.

How-to

# Common lab modes
# -m 0     MD5
# -m 100   SHA1
# -m 1000  NTLM
# -m 1800  sha512crypt ($6$)
# -m 3200  bcrypt

hashcat -m 1000 -a 0 ntlm.txt rockyou.txt
hashcat -m 1800 -a 0 shadow.hashes rockyou.txt --username

• Identify the hash → confirm mode → then attack.
• Use -a 0 dictionary first; rules (-r) before brutal mask burns.
• Watch temperature/power on shared boxes; be a good lab citizen.