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Jul 24, 2003, 12:34 PM
#1
Windows password cracked in seconds
If your passwords consist of letters and numbers, beware.
Swiss researchers released a paper on Tuesday outlining a way to speed the cracking of alphanumeric Windows passwords, reducing the time to break such codes to an average of 13.6 seconds, from 1 minute 41 seconds.
The method involves using large lookup tables to match encoded passwords to the original text entered by a person, thus speeding the calculations required to break the codes. Called a time-memory trade-off, the situation means that an attacker with an abundance of computer memory can reduce the time it takes to break a secret code.
The results highlight a fact about which many security researchers have worried: Microsoft's manner for encoding passwords has certain weaknesses that make such techniques particularly effective, Philippe Oechslin, a senior research assistant and lecturer at the Cryptography and Security Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), wrote in an e-mail to CNET News.com.
"Windows passwords are not very good," he wrote. "The problem with Windows passwords is that they do not include any random information."
Read on: Cracking Windows passwords in seconds CNET News.com
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Jul 24, 2003, 12:47 PM
#2
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
This is scary...
hhmmmm
Penguin anyone?
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Jul 24, 2003, 01:07 PM
#3
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
Nastro,
You the Bill Gates of the Linux underground ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Jul 24, 2003, 01:28 PM
#4
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
Hmmm....why am I not surprised?
Question though....does this apply ONLY to windows passwords and not any 4 character alphnumeric password regardless of system? 8)
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Jul 24, 2003, 01:36 PM
#5
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
Time to have a good password policy -
Minimum password length of 8 chars
Require complex passwords (letters, numbers, punctuation, special chars)
Regular password changes
Account lockouts after x number of incorrect logins
Forbid re-use of passwords
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Jul 27, 2003, 09:50 PM
#6
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
I enjoyed reading your post.
Since you are interested in Infosec you may find this article interesting reading.
Check out this article:
http://www.techrepublic.com/article_...htm&page=1
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Jul 28, 2003, 09:11 AM
#7
Re:Windows password cracked in seconds
LC4 can crack passwords in seconds.
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