Which type of attack involves matching a password hash from a precomputed list?

The correct answer is rainbow. A rainbow table attack utilizes precomputed hash values for a wide range of potential passwords to quickly find the original password corresponding to a given hash. Instead of generating hashes on-the-fly for every possible password, which is time-consuming, attackers use a rainbow table—a collection of these precomputed hashes—to significantly speed up the process of cracking password hashes. This is effective because it allows an attacker to look up the hash in the table and retrieve the original password without having to compute every possible combination.

Other types of attacks, such as brute force, involve systematically trying all possible combinations of passwords until the correct one is found, but do not rely on precomputed lists. Cracking is a broader term that encompasses all methods of breaking into password-protected systems, and hacking generally refers to unauthorized access to systems without a specific method of attack. Only the rainbow table attack specifically focuses on precomputed hashes.