Password-cracking chip causes security concerns

Sarad AV jtrjtrjtr2001 at yahoo.com
Sat Oct 27 10:04:12 PDT 2007


--- "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com> wrote:

> 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.
> 
> The toughest passwords, including those used to log
> in to a Windows Vista
> computer, would normally take months of continuous
> computer processing time
> to crack using a computer's central processing unit
> (CPU). By harnessing a
> $150 GPU - less powerful than the nVidia 8800 card -
> Elcomsoft says they
> can cracked in just three to five days. Less complex
> passwords can be
> retrieved in minutes, rather than hours or days.


A factor of 25 is not that large.Its less than 2^5. A
5 bit longer password would have solved the problem,
assuming only brute force.
 I guess then there is a serious problem with Vista's
login mechanism?

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