Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) Practice Exam 2026 – The Complete All-in-One Guide to Exam Mastery!

The appropriate answer is the hybrid attack, which combines traditional dictionary words with modifications such as added numbers or symbols. This technique recognizes that many users create passwords by taking easy-to-remember words and enhancing them to meet security policies. For example, a password like "password" might be transformed into "password123!" using this method. This form of cracking is particularly effective because it targets the human tendency to base passwords on recognizable words, while also adapting to common practices of enhancing those words to create stronger passwords.

In contrast, brute forcing relies on systematically trying every possible combination of characters until the password is found, which can be much slower and is less efficient when compared to hybrid attacks. Syllable attack focuses on generating combinations based on syllable structures of words rather than directly modifying dictionary words. Rule-based attack applies specific rules to variations of a password but doesn't necessarily start with dictionary words, making it a different approach altogether from what is described in the question.