Tagged Questions

-2
votes
1answer
79 views

Why should I use the VPN? [closed]

Does a Virtual Private Network (VPN) provide an encrypted connection from outside networks or from ISPs to the internal network?
5
votes
1answer
115 views

When taking ownership of a TPM in Windows 7, how is the SRK derived from the password?

When you take ownership of a TPM in Windows 7 you encounter a screen like this: Based on this document, it is my understanding that completing this dialog box somehow results in the generation of ...
6
votes
3answers
669 views

Tools helps: First time cracking passwords

I am trying to crack passwords on two Windows member servers (2003 and 2008). There is no Active Directory. Each user seems to use the same password across servers, workstations, etc. I have access to ...
0
votes
1answer
149 views

Due to which reason might a windows 7 password been reset to empty?

A user reports on monday he cannot access his windows 7 account anymore due to a "wrong password", which perfectly worked on friday. It turns out the password has been reset to empty for that account. ...
10
votes
2answers
267 views

How insecure is PowerShell Web Access?

Windows Server 2012 comes with a new feature that allows you to administrate the server via a PowerShell command line in any modern browser including Smartphones. This sounds cool and scary at the ...
3
votes
1answer
144 views

DPAPI offline attack by cracking windows password?

I'm thinking of using DPAPI to protect configuration file information in my program. After doing some reading on it, it looks like it uses the user's Windows password as part of the encryption ...
13
votes
2answers
3k views

How secure is Windows 8's Picture Password login?

The final Windows 8 build has been released to manufacturing. One of the new features of Windows 8 is "Picture Password", where the end user logs on to Windows by clicking a specific pattern on the ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views

tools automating logins/hashes grabbing

Lets assume I have access to the windows machine. I want to grab raw info about logins/hashes from both system and installed apps, dump and analyze it later. I could manually dump things like SAM ...
0
votes
1answer
115 views

How can I prevent my son accessing my PC? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How can I prevent my kids from bypassing my computer restrictions based on Windows Vista? My 14 year-old son is using a Ctrl+Alt+Del procedure to get into my computer ...
1
vote
3answers
3k views

Windows 7 Password Hash Security

I recently came across a number of sources that suggest that cracking Windows user account passwords is easy by examining their password hashes. I understand that these hashes are stored in the SAM ...
1
vote
0answers
124 views

Recover Word file password [closed]

I have a Word (.doc) file that I created a long time ago I believe in a Windows XP. The problem is I don't remember the password anymore and need to access the file. What would you recommend I do? I ...
24
votes
1answer
968 views

What's the risk if I accidently type my password into a username field (Windows logon)?

I'm used to logging into my personal Mac which is a password-only field (like waking from sleep mode). Sometimes I have to use a Windows network on which I have an account, but of course I have to ...
4
votes
1answer
483 views

Why does Windows 7 require a password hint during setup?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Windows 7 is the only operating system out there that requires a hint for the first user created on the system (have not had a chance to check out Windows 8 ...
2
votes
1answer
377 views

Token Based Authentication & Pass-the-hash Attacks

Do token-based authentication solutions (such as RSA SecurID) mitigate tools like incognito and/or pass-the-hash tools?
1
vote
1answer
144 views

Can accounts still be logged onto if Password Caching is not enabled?

This is kind of an extension of my other question.. If you were not storing any of the passwords locally (caching disabled), would a user some how still be able to circumvent around this security ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views

How secure is Windows Auto-Logon?

Obviously, if auto-logon is enabled, anyone who can gain physical access to the PC can use the PC. That's not the question. The question is, when I enable auto-logon for my Windows 7 box, will there ...
2
votes
1answer
921 views

Are Windows password hashes salted with the user name?

I'll readily admit I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cryptography, so there may already be some false assumptions in the question title itself :-) Still, I "heard" that it is more secure to store ...
5
votes
1answer
468 views

How to know the windows security dialog asking for username password is genuine?

I recently faced one issue. It appeared my outlook launched a dialog saying it needed password. It looked like this I noticed the "->" character in the domain name which usually it auto fills. Also ...
9
votes
3answers
3k views

Security of passwords remembered by Windows

Does Windows XP or Windows 7 encrypt saved passwords? I'm assuming that the user uses local password to logon. The user then uses his own computer to connect to server in work and sets the "remember ...
5
votes
2answers
625 views

Password History/Password policy

I'm referring to "remembered" password that the domain keeps so a user cannot reuse that password until it has expired in what was set at Password Policy on DC (W2003/W2008). Where is password ...
5
votes
2answers
246 views

How can I detect users that have requested AD Administrators to reuse an expired password?

There is a trend among companies I've worked at where administrators (or helpdesk folks) give a user a courtesy extension of the old expired password... rather than forcing the user to change it. ...
10
votes
3answers
2k views

How can I prevent someone from accessing a Windows XP system via boot disk?

Apparently a computer system protected by a a login password, e.g. Windows XP, can be easily hacked by someone with physical access to it using methods like this one: ...
8
votes
3answers
819 views

How can I mitigate the threat that DPAPick poses to my DPAPI protected data?

The Windows Data Protection API (DPAPI) is the suggested method for storing secrets on Windows systems (such as database passwords required by ASP.Net applications). DPAPick was presented at BlackHat ...