atom
Details are presented that explain how Hashcat optimizes the computation of MD5, NTLM, SHA1, PBKDF2 etc.
Most hash algorithms are designed to generate digests of large data inputs, but many developers use them to store passwords. By doing this, all hash algorithms can be optimized in some way to compute the hashes for password cracking; some more, some less.
I'll show some general optimization techniques and how they are used in Hashcat, which is what makes Hashcat fast.
Jens Steube, aka atom, is a German software developer and world-renowned password cracking expert, best known as the lead developer of Hashcat. He and his team have taken first place in Crack Me If You Can 2010 & 2012 and Hash Runner 2012. Some say he is convinced Star Wars was a documentary.