Password protecting a data file... how to cope with forgotten password?

[Bob Sneidar]

I believe there are entire databases of MD5 randomly generated passwords with their hashes. An ex-employee demonstrated this once by sticking in a USB key into a server we recovered from our data center running Win2k. He came back 20 minutes later with all the passwords for all the accounts on the machine. Very enlightening. I wouldn't use MD5 now for anything. 

Bob


On Jun 13, 2012, at 6:47 AM, Richard Gaskin wrote:

> General tip for anyone using hashes:
> 
> MD5 has been known to be theoretically crackable for some years, and this has become a reality as noted in recent news:
> 
>   MD5 password scrambler 'no longer safe'
> 
>   Summary: The MD5 password hash algorithm is “no longer considered
>   safe” by the original software developer, a day after the leak of
>   more than 6.4 million hashed LinkedIn passwords.