DO YOU THINK YOUR LAPTOP IS SAFE WITH PASSWORD?
If yes, then think it twice after reading this post
If you have protected your laptop with password that doesn’t mean that your laptop or system is safe. You have just locked the pc/Laptop not the application or data within it. However when a thief steals your laptop its not that much difficult for him to hack your password or even if an administrator forgets the password he can easily break it. Passwords are good to have, but will not stop a thief from accessing the device, only slow them down a bit. Here is a quick run through of some common techniques for getting around the passwords for different platforms:
Windows Xp & Vista/7
Windows can be cracked using several available tools
OPHCRACK - Ophcrack is a free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms. It comes with a LiveCD version which automates the retrieval, decryption, and cracking of passwords from a Windows system. The latest version uses a new faster technique using rainbow tables and can crack 99.99% of alphanumeric passwords of up to 14 characters in usually a few seconds, and at most a few minutes. The software works with older versions of Windows as well.
PROACTIVE PASSWORD AUDITOR from Elcomsoft - The software utilizes similar techniques to OphCrack but with a bit more automation and a friendlier user interface. The product basically makes password a mainstream technique that anyone can use to gain access to a system.
Download it from here : Click Here
Linux
Boot Linux into single-user mode
1. 1. Reboot the machine.
2. 2. Press the ESC key while GRUB is loading to enter the menu.
3. 3. If there is a ‘recovery mode’ option, select it and press ‘b’ to boot into single user mode.
4. 4. Otherwise, the default boot configuration should be selected. Press ‘e’ to edit it.
5. 5. Highlight the line that begins with ‘kernel’. Press ‘e’ again to edit this line.
6. 6. At the end of the line, add an additional parameter: ’single’. Hit return to make the change and press ‘b’ to boot.
7. 7. Change the admin password
The system should load into single user mode and you’ll be left at the command line automatically logged in as root.Type ‘passwd’ to change the root password or ‘passwd someuser’ to change the password for your “someuser” admin account.
The system should load into single user mode and you’ll be left at the command line automatically logged in as root.Type ‘passwd’ to change the root password or ‘passwd someuser’ to change the password for your “someuser” admin account.
8. 8. Reboot
Enter ‘reboot’ to restart into your machine’s normal configuration.
Enter ‘reboot’ to restart into your machine’s normal configuration.
These are just a few techniques to get rid of password protected Laptops. One thing you must kept in mind while setting up password that is you password must be a Phrase not a word because 14 character passwords can be cracked in a matter of minutes. Most IT administrators require a password of 8 characters, this is not sufficient. It is better to devise a phrase instead of just a word.
ENCRYPTION
If you have sensitive information on your system, it is important to ensure that the data is encrypted, many operating systems have this built-in and there is also free encryption tools such as TrueCrypt that provide excellent encryption, so even if your password protected laptop is cracked, your data is still secure, just make sure you use a different password for your encrypted drive.
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