Which type of passwords are transmitted in clear text over networks?

Clear text passwords are indeed transmitted in clear text over networks, meaning they are sent without any encryption or transformation that would obscure their content. This makes them vulnerable to interception by anyone monitoring the network traffic. When passwords are transmitted in this manner, any user with access to the communication channel can easily read and capture them, which poses a significant security risk.

In contrast, obfuscated passwords typically involve some form of encoding or masking that makes them less readable, though not necessarily secure. Hashed passwords undergo a transformation to create a fixed-size string that obscures the original password, but they are not suitable for transmission as-is since they cannot be easily reversed unless additional information is provided. Hex passwords, while potentially part of a representation format, do not imply that the passwords are secure in transit and can also be vulnerable.

Thus, the characteristic of clear text passwords being sent without any protective measures is what makes them the correct identification in this context.