Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
It allowed the user name, domain name, and password hashes cached in memory by the Local Security Authority to be changed at runtime after a user was authenticated — this made it possible to 'pass the hash' using standard Windows applications, and thereby to undermine fundamental authentication mechanisms built into the operating system.
On Windows 10 and Windows 11, the activation process can also generate a "digital entitlement", which allows the operating system's hardware and license status to be saved to the activation servers, so that the operating system's license can automatically be restored after a clean installation without the need to enter a product key.
DPAPI security relies upon the Windows operating system's ability to protect the master key and RSA private keys from compromise, which in most attack scenarios is most highly reliant on the security of the end user's credentials. A main encryption/decryption key is derived from user's password by PBKDF2 function. [2]
However, asking users to remember a password consisting of a "mix of uppercase and lowercase characters" is similar to asking them to remember a sequence of bits: hard to remember, and only a little bit harder to crack (e.g. only 128 times harder to crack for 7-letter passwords, less if the user simply capitalizes one of the letters).
In Excel and Word 95 and prior editions a weak protection algorithm is used that converts a password to a 16-bit verifier and a 16-byte XOR obfuscation array [1] key. [4] Hacking software is now readily available to find a 16-byte key and decrypt the password-protected document. [5] Office 97, 2000, XP and 2003 use RC4 with 40 bits. [4]
When password-guessing, this method is very fast when used to check all short passwords, but for longer passwords other methods such as the dictionary attack are used because a brute-force search takes too long. Longer passwords, passphrases and keys have more possible values, making them exponentially more difficult to crack than shorter ones ...
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
A keylogger running on the system will capture any typed passwords. [8] [3] A user with administrator privileges can install a new Security Support Provider (SSP). The new SSP will not be able to access stored password hashes, but will be able to capture all passwords after the SSP is installed. [8] [9]