**Microsoft's Weak Link in Network Security Found**
In a bid to prompt organizations into abandoning the aging hashing function, security firm Mandiant has released an NTLMv1 rainbow table that can crack weak admin passwords in under 12 hours using consumer-grade hardware. This move aims to underscore the vulnerabilities of Net-NTLMv1, a widely criticized protocol introduced by Microsoft two decades ago.
Researchers have long warned about the weaknesses of this hashing function, which leaves organizations vulnerable to trivial credential theft due to its susceptibility to brute-force attacks. A single DES with 56-bit keys makes NTLMv1 an easy target for attackers.
The release of this rainbow table comes as a result of years-long research into exploiting the protocol's vulnerabilities. It will make it easier for security professionals and researchers to demonstrate the insecurity of Net-NTLMv1, which has been widely criticized but continues to be used in some sensitive networks.
Organizations relying on Windows networking are not alone in this practice. Microsoft has also been slow to deprecate NTLMv1, announcing its plans to do so last August. Despite public awareness of its weaknesses, the protocol remains prevalent due to inertia and a lack of demonstrated immediate risk.
The tables provide per-byte hash results with known plaintext challenges, allowing attackers to trivially compromise accounts using tools such as Responder, PetitPotam, and DFSCoerce. Researchers have welcomed this move, seeing it as added ammunition in their efforts to convince decision-makers to migrate off the insecure function.
Microsoft released NTLMv1 in the 1980s with OS/2 and has since acknowledged its weaknesses. However, it is not until now that a comprehensive tool set has been made available to researchers, allowing them to test its security more thoroughly.
Organizations are urged to disable Net-NTLMv1 immediately, as failing to do so will leave them open to attacks by malicious hackers. With NTLMv2 being equally weak for weaker passwords and subject to brute-force attacks, organizations must act now to protect themselves against these threats.
In a bid to prompt organizations into abandoning the aging hashing function, security firm Mandiant has released an NTLMv1 rainbow table that can crack weak admin passwords in under 12 hours using consumer-grade hardware. This move aims to underscore the vulnerabilities of Net-NTLMv1, a widely criticized protocol introduced by Microsoft two decades ago.
Researchers have long warned about the weaknesses of this hashing function, which leaves organizations vulnerable to trivial credential theft due to its susceptibility to brute-force attacks. A single DES with 56-bit keys makes NTLMv1 an easy target for attackers.
The release of this rainbow table comes as a result of years-long research into exploiting the protocol's vulnerabilities. It will make it easier for security professionals and researchers to demonstrate the insecurity of Net-NTLMv1, which has been widely criticized but continues to be used in some sensitive networks.
Organizations relying on Windows networking are not alone in this practice. Microsoft has also been slow to deprecate NTLMv1, announcing its plans to do so last August. Despite public awareness of its weaknesses, the protocol remains prevalent due to inertia and a lack of demonstrated immediate risk.
The tables provide per-byte hash results with known plaintext challenges, allowing attackers to trivially compromise accounts using tools such as Responder, PetitPotam, and DFSCoerce. Researchers have welcomed this move, seeing it as added ammunition in their efforts to convince decision-makers to migrate off the insecure function.
Microsoft released NTLMv1 in the 1980s with OS/2 and has since acknowledged its weaknesses. However, it is not until now that a comprehensive tool set has been made available to researchers, allowing them to test its security more thoroughly.
Organizations are urged to disable Net-NTLMv1 immediately, as failing to do so will leave them open to attacks by malicious hackers. With NTLMv2 being equally weak for weaker passwords and subject to brute-force attacks, organizations must act now to protect themselves against these threats.
"The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem." 
This is a classic example of how outdated systems can put entire organizations at risk 
. Microsoft's slow response to deprecate NTLMv1 is a perfect illustration of the "inertia" that politicians often complain about, but can't seem to fix 
. It's time for them to step up and show some leadership on this issue 
. I mean, what's the point of having laws and regulations if they're not enforced or updated regularly? 
Organizations need to act fast to avoid becoming the next high-profile victims of a hacking breach 
. And let's be real, Microsoft needs to own up to its mistakes and take responsibility for pushing out these insecure protocols 
. The fact that it's taken years for researchers to develop this rainbow table is just another example of how slow technology advancements can be compared to the pace of cyber threats 
.
it feels like we've been living in a security nightmare since the 90s! I mean, come on, 56-bit keys? That's literally the bare minimum for any decent password hashing algorithm. 
its about time someone made it easy to demonstrate just how insecure this protocol is. And honestly, I'm a bit surprised Microsoft hasn't pushed this issue harder sooner. 
And now a security firm makes a rainbow table that can crack those weak admin passwords in under 12 hours? 
That's just insane! 
. But now it seems clear that they didn't want to alert people to the risks and just kinda... wait for someone else to do it for them 
.
i'm actually kinda happy the researchers made this rainbow table tho, its like the ultimate proof they need to get rid of it already 
so yeah, organizations gotta switch to ntlmv2 or whatever ASAP, cant have them sitting ducks out there 
and I'm like totally worried about our school's network security! They still use Windows 10 and it has that old NTLMv1 protocol. I've heard it can be cracked in under 12 hours using consumer-grade hardware 
I'm seriously considering talking to my school's tech team about this and getting them to upgrade our network ASAP. We can't be sitting ducks for hackers, right? 