Which credential technique involves authenticating using a hash instead of a password?

• A. Brute Force
• B. Password Spraying
• C. Pass-The-Hash
• D. Dictionary Attack

Answer: (C)

Authenticating with a hash instead of a password is the essence of pass-the-hash. In this technique, an attacker uses a captured password hash (such as an NTLM hash) as the credential to prove identity to remote services, allowing access without ever needing the plaintext password. This enables lateral movement across systems within a Windows network because many services will accept a valid hash to authenticate, effectively letting the attacker impersonate the user.

This differs from brute-force, password spraying, or dictionary attacks, which are about guessing or trying passwords to gain access rather than reusing a hash. Pass-the-hash relies on stealing the hash material itself and abusing the authentication protocol to authenticate with that hash.