Password-Cracking Patent Causes Security Concerns

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You can use your GPU for graphics, physics, and protein folding so why not password cracking? Apparently they do a lot better job than a conventional CPU, cutting the time to crack difficult passwords down to days instead of months.

Using an $800 graphics card from nVidia called the GeForce 8800 Ultra, Elcomsoft increased the speed of its password cracking by a factor of 25, according to the company's CEO, Vladimir Katalov.
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First off, YES, and NO!


This article is misleading, so I will respond to the first part then the second.

Yes, GPUs (the new ones) can do fixed point calculations (rather than all floating point, which is what the older ones did), and they do it in a MASSIVELY parralel fashion. So yes they are several times faster than a regular old CPU.



NO! DAYS? the key word in this article is 'NTLM' hashes. The security industry has spoken OVER AND OVER AND OVER that NTLM is ridiculous and should never have been used, period. GPU or not, NTLM passwords are the equivelent of 7 characters, regardless of how long your password actually is. So implying that somone can roll in and take your "difficult" password in 2-3 days with a geforce is false. Now this CAN happen with NTLM and OK passwords, but anyone who has ever thrown johntheRipper or much less mASSCRACK at an NTLM hash knows you don't need a GPU, and you won't need days.



:ZZ
 
traetox said:
First off, YES, and NO! This article is misleading, so I will respond to the first part then the second. Yes, GPUs (the new ones) can do fixed point calculations (rather than all floating point, which is what the older ones did), and they do it in a MASSIVELY parralel fashion. So yes they are several times faster than a regular old CPU.

NO! DAYS? the key word in this article is 'NTLM' hashes. The security industry has spoken OVER AND OVER AND OVER that NTLM is ridiculous and should never have been used, period. GPU or not, NTLM passwords are the equivelent of 7 characters, regardless of how long your password actually is. So implying that somone can roll in and take your "difficult" password in 2-3 days with a geforce is false. Now this CAN happen with NTLM and OK passwords, but anyone who has ever thrown johntheRipper or much less mASSCRACK at an NTLM hash knows you don't need a GPU, and you won't need days.

:ZZ
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QFT and I added some much needed spacing to your post...:p
 
How many real hackers have 8800Ultras :confused:
 
wow, now all the crooks will have the hotted video cards.. which will in turn get them addicted to gaming, and will make them more crooked cause they will need more cash just to keep up with all their upgrades... then nvidia will be responsible for the rise in crime in the world! :p
 
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