What statement correctly defines what a rainbow table is in relation to password attacks?

Question

Group of answer choices

A rainbow table contains password masks that are used to guess passwords using a predetermined sequence.

A rainbow table is a compressed representation of cleartext passwords that are related and organized in a sequence.

A rainbow table contains a table of potential hash collisions that can be used to try and brute force a password.

A rainbow table is a collection of rules designed to match potential password patterns that may be in use by a particular organization

Answer 1

The correct statement that defines what a rainbow table is in relation to password attacks is:

A rainbow table is a compressed representation of cleartext passwords that are related and organized in a sequence.

Rainbow tables are used to reverse cryptographic hash functions by providing a precomputed table for all possible plain text passwords. This allows an attacker to quickly look up the hash rather than regenerate it from the input, effectively speeding up the process of cracking hashed passwords.