The best graphics cards are great for gaming but can also help crack passwords. Hive Systems, a cybersecurity solution provider, has released the 2024 edition of its Hive Systems Password Table and some additional studies detailing how long it takes different Nvidia graphics cards to crack a password.
Unlike other studies where firms used AI to crack passwords, Hive Systems' approach is based on hashes. Hashing consists of scrambling the password into an enigmatic combination of letters and numbers. Servers store passwords in the form of hashes, so even if a hacker steals the database, they see the hashes, not the actual password. Hackers play around with different combinations of characters, hashing them and comparing them to stolen databases with password hashes to look for matches.