Tech Thursday – Cracking the Code: Passwords, Hashes and the Tools that Break Them

🔐 **Cracking the Code: Passwords, Hashes & the Tools That Break Them** @everyone
**🗓️ TOMORROW — Thursday, June 18 · 6:00–8:00 PM**
**📍 GigaParts Classroom**
*DC256 × NAC-ISSA Tech Thursday · presented by Christian Clark*

Ever wonder how passwords are actually stored — and why some fall in **seconds** while others hold out for **centuries**? In this hands-on session we’ll go from *”what even is a hash?”* to cracking real (synthetic!) hashes with the same tools the pros use: **John, Hashcat, Hydra, CeWL** . Then you’ll put it to work in **🏴 Hash Heist**, our live-leaderboard CTF.

No experience required — we start from zero and build up. Beginners and seasoned folks both have a lane.

**🎯 You’ll learn to:**
• Tell hashing from encryption (and from encoding)
• Spot MD5 / SHA / NTLM / bcrypt and rank them by crack-resistance
• Pick the right attack — dictionary, rules, masks, hybrid, online guessing
• Build a targeted wordlist, and map every attack to a **defense**

**💻 Bring a laptop + do this setup TONIGHT** 🙏
It’s a **~1.2 GB download** (unpacks to ~5 GB on disk), so grab it on **home wifi** — the classroom wifi won’t be happy with everyone pulling it at once. You’ll need **Docker Desktop** (Win/macOS/Linux) → https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/ and ~8 GB free.

“`bash
git clone https://github.com/bytetheio/crackstation
cd crackstation
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d vuln-login
docker compose run –rm crackstation
“`
If you land at a prompt with a **crackstation** banner, you’re ready ✅ — type `exit`. *(Apple Silicon Macs: it runs under emulation, which is expected.)*

**🏁 Day-of links**
• 🏆 Submit flags / live leaderboard → **https://board.0byte.sh**
• <:happy_cookie:675372940572885043> Get to Hack Dillon’s Cookie Shop → **https://cookies.0byte.sh**

**⚖️ 100% legal & safe:** everything runs against **synthetic data we made up** — toy hashes, fake users, deliberately weak passwords. No real accounts.

Come crack some hashes, climb the leaderboard, and walk away a sharper defender. See you tomorrow at GigaParts! 🍪🚩

If you have any issues, please review https://github.com/bytetheio/crackstation.

More details found on the DC256 Discord page: https://discord.com/channels/741877434592395384/741886258388926494

This is our sixth monthly Tech Thursday for 2026. After this month, they will be less frequent so don’t miss you chance to attend this event! We will meet at Gigaparts for this free event. Pizza and softdrinks are served.