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How Long Does It Take Hackers to Crack Modern Hashing Algorithms?

How Long Does It Take Hackers to Crack Modern Hashing Algorithms?

Jan 28, 2025 Cybersecurity / Encryption
While passwords remain the first line of defense for protecting user accounts against unauthorized access, the methods for creating strong passwords and protecting them are continually evolving. For example, NIST password recommendations are now prioritizing password length over complexity. Hashing, however, remains a non-negotiable. Even long secure passphrases should be hashed to prevent them from being completely exposed in the event of a data breach – and never stored in plaintext. This article examines how today's cyber attackers attempt to crack hashed passwords, explores common hashing algorithms and their limitations, and discusses measures you can take to protect your hashed passwords, regardless of which algorithm you are using. Modern password cracking techniques Malicious actors have an array of tools and methods at their disposal for cracking hashed passwords. Some of the more widely used methods include brute force attacks, password dictionary attacks, hybrid attacks...
Cryptography Hacks - Hash Encryption using DuckDuckGo Search Engine

Cryptography Hacks - Hash Encryption using DuckDuckGo Search Engine

Jan 30, 2014
Over the past several months, it has become clear that the Internet and our Privacy have been fundamentally compromised. A Private search engine DuckDuckGo claims that when you click on one of their search results, they do not send personally identifiable information along with your request to the third party. Like Google dorks (advance search patterns), there are thousands of similar, but technically more useful search hacks are also available in DuckDuckGo called DuckDuckGoodies . Today I am going to share about Handy " Cryptography " using DuckDuckGo search engine . Whether you are a Hacker, Cracker or a Researcher, you need to face a number of hash strings in your day to day life. Hashing is a one way encryption of a plain text or a file, generally used to secure passwords or to check the integrity of the file. There is a certain set of hashing algorithms, e.g.md5, sha1, sha-512 etc. A hash function generates the exact output if executed n numbe...
Three Password Cracking Techniques and How to Defend Against Them

Three Password Cracking Techniques and How to Defend Against Them

Feb 26, 2025 Identity Protection / Password Security
Passwords are rarely appreciated until a security breach occurs; suffice to say, the importance of a strong password becomes clear only when faced with the consequences of a weak one. However, most end users are unaware of just how vulnerable their passwords are to the most common password-cracking methods. The following are the three common techniques for cracking passwords and how to defend against them. Brute force attack Brute force attacks are straightforward yet highly effective techniques for cracking passwords. These attacks involve malicious actors using automated tools to systematically try every possible password combination through repeated login attempts. While such tools have existed for years, the advent of affordable computing power and storage has made them even more efficient today, especially when weak passwords are used. How it works When it comes to brute force attacks, malicious actors employ a range of tactics—from simple brute force attacks that test ev...
cyber security

SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2025

websiteSANS InstituteCyber Defense / ICS Security
Strengthen your cybersecurity skills in Washington, DC or Live Online (ET), Dec 12–17, 2025.
cyber security

2025 Gartner® MQ Report for Endpoint Protection Platforms (July 2025 Edition)

websiteSentinelOneEndpoint Protection / Unified Security
Compare leading Endpoint Protection vendors and see why SentinelOne is named a 5x Leader.
Hash Code Cracker V 1.2 Released ~ Password Cracking from BreakTheSecurity

Hash Code Cracker V 1.2 Released ~ Password Cracking from BreakTheSecurity

Oct 04, 2011
Hash Code Cracker V 1.2 Released ~ Password Cracking from BreakTheSecurity BreakTheSecurity is proud to release the Hash Code Cracker Version 1.2. Our latest release supports Online Cracking function. Description: This password cracker is developed for PenTesters and Ethical hackers. Please Use this software for legal purposes(Testing the Password Strength). Features: This software will crack the MD5, SHA1,NTLM(Windows Password) hash codes. No need to install. Supports All platforms(windows XP/7,Linux,..). V1.2 Changelog : Included Online cracking Support Minimum Requirements: Java Runtime Environment: JRE 1.6 should be installed.(you can get it from oracle.com) How to Run the Application? Download the .zip file and extract. Extract the zip file. Open the Terminal or command prompt. Navigate to the path of Extracted zip file (i mean HashCodeCracker Folder) in Terminal/CMD. Type this command "java -jar HashCodeCracker.jar". Now the applica...
Findmyhash - Find Cracked Hashes Online

Findmyhash - Find Cracked Hashes Online

Sep 27, 2011
Findmyhash - Find Cracked Hashes Online findmyhash is a Python script which has been developed to find different types of password hashes using multiple cracking online services. In case that it does not find a favourable "cracked" hash, it will also present you with relevant Google search results. This is open source script can mostly serve as a start up point for cracking any hash. It supports a lot many online hash cracking services. Cracking services supported by findmyhash: Schwett.com Netmd5crack.com MD5-Cracker.tk tools.BenRamsey.com md5.Gromweb.com md5.HashCracking.com victorov.su md5.thekaine.de tmto.org md5-db.de md5.my-addr.com md5pass.info md5decryption.com md5crack.com md5online.net md5-decrypter.com authsecu.com hashcrack.com objectif-securite.ch c0llision.net md5.rednoize.com cmd5.org cacin.net ibeast.com password-decrypt.com bigtrapeze.com hashchecker.com md5hashcracker.appspot.com passcracking.com askcheck.com cracker.fox21.at cra...
Weak Passwords and Compromised Accounts: Key Findings from the Blue Report 2025

Weak Passwords and Compromised Accounts: Key Findings from the Blue Report 2025

Aug 21, 2025 Password Security / Identity Protection
As security professionals, it's easy to get caught up in a race to counter the latest advanced adversary techniques. Yet the most impactful attacks often aren't from cutting-edge exploits, but from cracked credentials and compromised accounts . Despite widespread awareness of this threat vector, Picus Security's Blue Report 2025 shows that organizations continue to struggle with preventing password cracking attacks and detecting the malicious use of compromised accounts . With the first half of 2025 behind us, compromised valid accounts remain the most underprevented attack vector , highlighting the urgent need for a proactive approach focused on the threats that are evading organizations' defenses. A Wake-Up Call: The Alarming Rise in Password Cracking Success The Picus Blue Report is an annual research publication that analyzes how well organizations are preventing and detecting real-world cyber threats. Unlike traditional reports that focus solely on threat t...
HashCodeCracker v1.2 Video Tutorials Available

HashCodeCracker v1.2 Video Tutorials Available

Oct 07, 2011
HashCodeCracker v1.2 Video Tutorials Available Hash Code Cracker V 1.2 was Released last week by BreakTheSecurity. This software will crack the MD5, SHA1,NTLM(Windows Password) hash codes. No need to install. Supports All platforms(windows XP/7,Linux,..). How to Run Hash Code Cracker Jar using Command Prompt~Password Cracking How to start Hash Code Cracker Jar with double Click~Password Cracking How to Crack the Password using Online Cracker Hash Code Cracker v1.2? Download  here  or from  here
Cracking 16 Character Strong passwords in less than an hour

Cracking 16 Character Strong passwords in less than an hour

May 30, 2013
The Password serves to protect your financial transactions, your social networking sites, and a host of other nominally secure websites online. People often say, " don't use dictionary words as passwords. They are horribly unsecure ", but what if hackers also managed to crack any 16 character password ? Criminals or trespassers who want to crack into your digital figurative backyard will always find a way. A team of hackers has managed to crack more than 14,800 supposedly random passwords from a list of 16,449 converted into hashes using the MD5 cryptographic hash function. The problem is the relatively weak method of encrypting passwords called hashing.  Hashing takes each user's plain text password and runs it through a one-way mathematical function. This creates a unique string of numbers and letters called the hash. The article reports that, using a commodity computer with a single AMD Radeon 7970 graphics card, it took him 20 hours to crack 14...
Oracle Database stealth password cracking vulnerability

Oracle Database stealth password cracking vulnerability

Sep 20, 2012
Oracle suffered with serious vulnerability in the authentication protocol used by some Oracle databases. This Flaw enable a remote attacker to brute-force a token provided by the server prior to authentication and determine a user's password. A researcher - Esteban Martinez Fayo, a researcher with AppSec tomorrow will demonstrate a proof-of-concept attack. Martinez Fayo and his team first reported the bugs to Oracle in May 2010. Oracle fixed it in mid-2011 via the 11.2.0.3 patch set, issuing a new version of the protocol. " But they never fixed the current version, so the current 11.1 and 11.2 versions are still vulnerable ," Martinez Fayo says, and Oracle has no plans to fix the flaws for version 11.1. The first step in the authentication process when a client contacts the database server is for the server to send a session key back to the client, along with a salt. The vulnerability enables an attacker to link a specific session key with a specific password hash. Th...
Extreme GPU Bruteforcer - Crack passwords with 450 Million passwords/Sec Speed

Extreme GPU Bruteforcer - Crack passwords with 450 Million passwords/Sec Speed

Apr 12, 2012
Extreme GPU Bruteforcer - Crack passwords with 450 Million passwords/Sec Speed Extreme GPU Bruteforcer , developed by InsidePro is a program meant for the recovery of passwords from hashes of different types, utilizing the power of GPU which enables reaching truly extreme attack speed of approx 450 Millions passwords/Second . The software supports hashes of the following types: MySQL, DES, MD4, MD5, MD5(Unix), MD5(phpBB3), MD5(Wordpress), NTLM, Domain Cached Credentials, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512 and many others. The software implements several unique attacks, including mask and hybrid dictionary attacks, which allow recovering even the strongest passwords incredibly fast. Utilizing the power of multiple graphics cards running simultaneously (supports up to 32 GPU), the software allows reaching incredible search speeds of billions of passwords per second! Type hashes average speed (Using NVIDIA GTS250): MD5 420 000 000 n / a MySQL 1.08 billion n / a MD4 605 000 000 n / ...
How to Hack WiFi Password Easily Using New Attack On WPA/WPA2

How to Hack WiFi Password Easily Using New Attack On WPA/WPA2

Nov 25, 2018
Looking for how to hack WiFi password OR WiFi hacking software? Well, a security researcher has revealed a new WiFi hacking technique that makes it easier for hackers to crack WiFi passwords of most modern routers. Discovered by the lead developer of the popular password-cracking tool Hashcat, Jens 'Atom' Steube, the new WiFi hack works explicitly against WPA/WPA2 wireless network protocols with Pairwise Master Key Identifier (PMKID)-based roaming features enabled. The attack to compromise the WPA/WPA2 enabled WiFi networks was accidentally discovered by Steube while he was analyzing the newly-launched WPA3 security standard . This new WiFi hacking method could potentially allow attackers to recover the Pre-shared Key (PSK) login passwords, allowing them to hack into your Wi-Fi network and eavesdrop on the Internet communications. How to Hack WiFi Password Using PMKID According to the researcher, the previously known WiFi hacking methods require attackers to wai...
Security Flaw in Styra's OPA Exposes NTLM Hashes to Remote Attackers

Security Flaw in Styra's OPA Exposes NTLM Hashes to Remote Attackers

Oct 22, 2024 Vulnerability / Software Security
Details have emerged about a now-patched security flaw in Styra's Open Policy Agent ( OPA ) that, if successfully exploited, could have led to leakage of New Technology LAN Manager ( NTLM ) hashes. "The vulnerability could have allowed an attacker to leak the NTLM credentials of the OPA server's local user account to a remote server, potentially allowing the attacker to relay the authentication or crack the password," cybersecurity firm Tenable said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The security flaw, described as a Server Message Block (SMB) force-authentication vulnerability and tracked as CVE-2024-8260 (CVSS score: 6.1/7.3), impacts both the CLI and Go software development kit (SDK) for Windows. At its core, the issue stems from an improper input validation that can lead to unauthorized access by leaking the Net-NTLMv2 hash of the user who is currently logged into the Windows device running the OPA application. However, for this to work, the victim ...
Hackers Leverage Cloud Computing to Crack Passwords Efficiently

Hackers Leverage Cloud Computing to Crack Passwords Efficiently

Nov 20, 2010
On-demand cloud computing is a valuable tool for companies needing temporary computing capacity without long-term investment in fixed capital. However, this same convenience makes cloud computing useful to hackers. Many hacking activities involve cracking passwords , keys, or other forms of brute force attacks. These processes are computationally intensive but highly parallelizable. Hackers have two main sources for on-demand computing: botnets made of consumer PCs and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) from service providers. Both can deliver computing power on demand for brute force attacks. Botnets are unreliable and heterogeneous, taking longer to "provision." However, they are free to use and can scale to enormous sizes, with some botnets comprising hundreds of thousands of PCs. On the other hand, commercial cloud computing offers faster provisioning, predictable performance, and can be billed to a stolen credit card . The balance of power between security controls ...
Preventing Insider Threats in Your Active Directory

Preventing Insider Threats in Your Active Directory

Mar 22, 2023 Password Security / Active Directory
Active Directory (AD) is a powerful authentication and directory service used by organizations worldwide. With this ubiquity and power comes the potential for abuse. Insider threats offer some of the most potentials for destruction. Many internal users have over-provisioned access and visibility into the internal network. Insiders' level of access and trust in a network leads to unique vulnerabilities. Network security often focuses on keeping a threat actor out, not on existing users' security and potential vulnerabilities. Staying on top of potential threats means protecting against inside and outside threats. Active Directory Vulnerabilities From the outside, a properly configured AD domain offers a secure authentication and authorization solution. But with complex social engineering and phishing email attacks, an existing AD user can become compromised. Once inside, threat actors have many options to attack Active Directory. Insecure Devices With "Bring Your Own ...
Why 'Never Expire' Passwords Can Be a Risky Decision

Why 'Never Expire' Passwords Can Be a Risky Decision

Sep 23, 2024 Password Management / Data Breach
Password resets can be frustrating for end users. Nobody likes being interrupted by the 'time to change your password' notification – and they like it even less when the new passwords they create are rejected by their organization's password policy. IT teams share the pain, with resetting passwords via service desk tickets and support calls being an everyday burden. Despite this, it's commonly accepted that all passwords should expire after a set period of time.  Why is this the case? Do you need password expiries at all? Explore the reason expiries exist and why setting passwords to 'never expire' might save some headaches, but not be the best idea for cybersecurity.  Why do we have password expiries? The traditional 90-day password reset policy stems from the need to protect against brute-force attacks . Organizations typically store passwords as hashes, which are scrambled versions of the actual passwords created using cryptographic hash functions (CHFs). When a user en...
World’s largest Bitcoin Poker website hacked, 42000 user passwords leaked

World's largest Bitcoin Poker website hacked, 42000 user passwords leaked

Dec 20, 2013
World's largest Bitcoin poker website ' SealsWithClubs ' has been compromised and around 42,000 users' credentials are at risk. Seals With Club  has issued a  Mandatory Password Reset   warning to their users, according to a statement published on the website. The service admitted their database had been compromised and revealed that the data center used until November was breached, resulting 42,020 hashed password theft. " Passwords were salted and hashed per user, but to be safe every user MUST change their password when they next log in. Please do so at your earliest opportunity. If your Seals password was used for any other purpose you should reset those passwords too as a precaution. " and " Transfers may be disabled for a short period of time.". Seals With Clubs used SHA1 hash functions to encrypt the passwords, but SHA1 is outdated and easy to crack if not salted. ' StacyM ', a user then posted the hashed passwords on a web forum o...
13 Million MacKeeper Users Hacked — 21 GB of Data Exposed

13 Million MacKeeper Users Hacked — 21 GB of Data Exposed

Dec 15, 2015
MacKeeper anti-virus company is making headlines today for its lax security that exposed the database of 13 Million Mac users' records including names, email addresses, usernames, password hashes, IP addresses, phone numbers, and system information. MacKeeper is a suite of software that claims to make Apple Macs more secure and stable, but today the anti-virus itself need some extra protection after a data breach exposed the personal and sensitive information for Millions of its customers. The data breach was discovered by Chris Vickery , a white hat hacker who was able to download 13 Million customer records by simply entering a selection of IP addresses, with no username or password required to access the data. 21 GB Trove of MacKeeper Customer Data Leaked 31-year-old Vickery said he uncovered the 21 GB trove of MacKeeper customer data in a moment of boredom while searching for openly accessible databases on Shodan – a specialized search engine that looks fo...
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