Windows Password Kracker is free software to recover lost or forgotten windows passwords. It can quickly recover original password from LM (LAN Manager) or NTLM (NT LAN Manager) hash.
Windows OS encrypts logon passwords using the LM or NTLM hash algorithm. Since one hash algorithm is used, you cannot directly decrypt the hash to find out the password. In such cases, "Windows Password Kracker" can help you recover windows password via simple method dictionary search (brute force).
It is used when no algorithms are available. Hackers using these techniques are especially keen to crack passwords and gain access to personal data. For this purpose, they use software with a simple algorithm that quickly launches many different possibilities, consisting of characters, spaces and letters up to a certain maximum length.
The shorter the password, the faster it will be cracked using brute force methods. This is why more long passwordsconsisting of different characters, and it is also recommended to use encryption systems. As the amount of computing power required to carry out such brute-force attacks becomes more readily available, this means more checks can be performed in a shorter period of time, making comprehensive protection from brutal attacks of paramount importance.
FireMasterCracker is a free master password cracking software for Firefox. it Graphic version , the first ever tool to recover lost master passwords from Firefox.
The Firefox browser uses a master password to protect saved passwords from all websites you visit. If this master password is forgotten, there is no way to recover it and the user loses all access to all websites as well.
Why should you attack with brute force
Given the primitiveness of the method, it seems obvious that appropriate protective measures must be taken, but this is not necessarily the case. Every computer connected to the Internet is potentially at risk. Once the hacker has worked his way into the system, your passwords are just around the corner.
Passwords in these files are not stored as plain text, they are encrypted using cryptographic algorithms. However, an attacker can gain access to files if they are not adequately protected from unauthorized access. A hacker can create a copy of a file and then carry out extensive brute force attacks without maintaining a system connection. Basically, there are now only three variables that determine how long it will take until the attack is successful.
In such cases, the "Fire Master Cracker" utility can help you recover your lost master password.
The master password is used to protect logins, passwords and other information about visited websites stored in fireFox browser... If this master password is forgotten, then there is no way to recover the master password and the user loses all passwords stored in it. However, now you can use FireMaster to recover forgotten master passwords and get back all saved authentication data (logins and passwords for sites).
- Duration of one check step.
- Password length.
- Password complexity.
This is how the length and complexity affects how quickly they break. If you expand the combination to 72 characters, a brute-force check would take about 83 days with the same processing power. However, this is not a matter of complacency: by trying lists of character combinations or using rainbow tables, attackers can reduce the time it takes for a brute force attack.
Appnimi Password Unlocker is a free, versatile all-in-one password recovery tool different types protected files including ZIP, RAR, PDF, XLS, XLSX, etc.
This utility for password recovery supports both the dictionary method and the brute force method (simple brute force), thereby allowing the user to easily recover a password of any complexity.
Defending Against Brute Force Attacks - How to Close Your Back
When it comes to private system passwords, you can take matters into your own hands. Use combinations that consist of many different types characters. At best use like lower caseand uppercase letters, special symbols and numbers in your passwords. The more characters a password contains, the harder it is to crack.
This is where you are tied to the specifications of the respective vendor. Typically, passwords have maximum length only eight characters and often limited to letters and numbers, which doesn't quite fill you in exactly. If so, you should definitely find out what precautions website entrepreneurs are taking to protect themselves from brute force attacks.
It's no secret that brute-force attempts to guess a password are a constant phenomenon. Pick up passwords for servers and virtual machines, to site admins and FTP-accounts, to mailboxes and social media.
Usually brute force goes to background and is practically invisible to resource owners, since does not create a significant load and does not interfere with the operation of the site, at least until the villains infiltrate the server :)
If you are the operator of a web service with a login mechanism, it is your responsibility. There are two possible approaches.
- Password mechanism protection.
- Create multi-factor authentication.
In addition, after each attempt to make a password, you can increase the time. Many vendors offer multi-factor authentication as an option. This makes the login process a little more complex, as an additional component is required in addition to the password. The latter are small tests to determine if the registration process is performed by an actual person or - for example, with brute force software - by a robot.
On August 1, perhaps the most powerful brute-force attack on sites created using the most widespread free CMS: Wordpress, Joomla! and etc.
And this is how it was:
The fashion for mega-brute-force has reached us
A similar attack on Wordpress sites was launched in April this year. This attack mainly affected Western resources and Russian users and hosting providers did not notice it. This time, the botnet is aimed primarily at hacking Russian-language sites.
United against brute force attacks
In addition to the measures presented, there are several tricks to prevent brute force attacks. Using aliases for input fields or text, which are then restored after a login attempt, can also cause problems for some hacking tools.
In any case, you will increase the security of your web project or passwords if you use one or more of the mentioned brute force protections. Authentication is at the heart of protecting an application from unauthorized access. If an attacker can compromise the authentication functionality of an application, they can take over the entire application.
The first public reports of the attack appeared on 2 August. In fact, anomalous activity in our monitoring system was noticeable as early as the first day. Before that, the load generated by bots was less noticeable. Perhaps these were test runs, but we assume that the active work began with a small number of infected machines. As new members joined, the load on the infrastructure grew and by August 2, all Russian hosting providers and their clients felt it.
Find out how to download, install and use this project. Clear the preset payload positions using the Clear button to the right of the Query Editor. Add the username and password parameter values \u200b\u200bas items by highlighting them and using the Add button.
In the Payload Sets settings, make sure Payload Set is 1 and Payload Type is Simple List. In the Payload Parameters options, enter several possible usernames. You can do it manually or use a custom or pre-configured payload list.
On the chart above, it may seem that something started happening on July 31, I even highlighted this moment with a red line. Further research showed that this was a local anomaly caused not by the start of the attack, but by the load on one of the nodes. Using this detailed graph, it is easy to identify the source of the anomaly:
Then, in the Payload Sets options, change Payload to 2. In the Payload Settings options, enter a few possible passwords... You can do this manually or with a custom or pre-defined list.
Password guessing for balls
In the Attack window, you can sort the results using the column headings. For this example, sort by Length and Status. The table now lists some interesting results for further study. 
If a username and password is required to log in as above, the application may respond to a failed login attempt by indicating whether the failure was due to an unrecognized username or an incorrect password.
Knowing the node, you can go deeper and find out exactly who creates the load: 
As you can see, there is increased activity in one of the client virtual servers. At the same time, everything is fine with the neighbors on the server and everything is normal on other nodes. Hence, we conclude that the case has nothing to do with the attack under study, i.e. big brute force started on August 1st.
In this case, you can use an automatic attack to iterate through big list common usernames to list which ones are valid. The list of listed usernames can be used as the basis for a variety of downstream attacks, including password guessing, attacks on user data or sessions, or social engineering.
In this example, the scanner was able to enumerate many issues that could help an attacker to break the authentication and session control of the web application. Also known as password attack or dictionary attack, they use a systematic trial and method where each combination is used to crack a password.
Fighting bots
The behavior of the bots was standard: they accessed a typical CMS login page. For example, for WP, this is the wp-login.php page. In the first phase of the attack, the requests were rather clumsy: bots immediately made a POST of the login and password to the form without first receiving the page (GET). Thus, at this stage it was very easy to distinguish them from real users, who first received the page, and then entered their login and password.Using this feature, the bots were quickly blocked. Naturally, after that, the attackers made adjustments to the behavior of the bots. They learned how to do GET-POST and work with cookies.
If you have a site that includes login authentication, you will most likely be a target for an attack. As soon as the attackers violated your login, they receive unlimited access to the resources of your site. They can use your site for cost-effective benefits, embed your brand, or simply gain popularity. Once a match is found, the bot will launch an attack by making indefinite attempts to crack the admin password. The attackers usually do not know who they are attacking until the attack is successful.
Tips for preventing brute force attacks
Talk about full automation, right? They are quite simple to observe, but very effective in their purpose. Using strong passwords is one of the best practices recommended by any security expert. Bots used by attackers can crack such weak passwords in several attempts. With a strong password, the bot will take a million attempts to get anywhere. So always remember to use long, unpredictable passwords, avoid dictionary words, avoid password reuse, and change passwords regularly.
After that, from possible options covers remained:
1) renaming the authorization page;
2) restriction of access to the admin section by ip-addresses (white list, geographic or other principle of division);
3) double authorization.
Rename the login page well suited specifically for Wordpress, because as a result, nothing breaks and you can continue working. But it's not a fact that this method works well for other CMS. The system may well have a binding to specific name script.
Thus, this method was not suitable for us as a hosting provider, because we just can't go and rename files to all clients without their knowledge. This can only be done by the client himself.
Once discovered, they will try to crack your password in order to take full control of your site. You can make your job more complex by renaming the admin name to something unique. Now hackers have an additional task to first guess your username before trying to crack your password. Simply changing the username may not be sufficient.
Speed \u200b\u200blimiting login attempts
Another very useful way protecting your site from brute attacks is limiting the number of failed login attempts. This feature blocks users when they reach a pre-configured number of failed attempts, for example, since bots tend to bombard our sites with indefinite login attempts, this mechanism is very effective in limiting their attempts.
Restricting access to the admin panel by white list ip-addresses are not suitable for everyone, because firstly, almost always Internet providers issue dynamic address, which can change from session to session, and secondly, it excludes the possibility of access to the admin panel from the outside, for example, with mobile device... This option was also swept aside as not working.
There are many security plugins out there to help limit maximum amount unsuccessful login attempts. These users are then blocked for a specified period of time. All security plugins allow default email notifications for failed login attempts or user lockout. Aside from generating unnecessary panic, they are nearly impossible to sort. Even if you did, there are no specific actions you need to take. Hence, we think it is best to turn off these notifications or turn them on for specific events only.
Geographic restriction ip works only if the botnet has a distinct "region of residence", for example, Vietnam or India. Again, this method is not suitable for taking uniform measures on a large hosting. immediately there are foreign clients who fall under these filters.
Dual authorization - the method that we eventually applied to sites prone to attacks on our shared hosting. We have installed an additional authorization page, which is issued when you try to access the admin panel without specific cookies. Having passed our additional authorization once, the legitimate user receives a special cookie and can easily enter the CMS admin panel. At the same time, bots cannot go through the page and not only cannot brute force the password for the CMS, but also do not create a large load on the server.
Judging by the news from hosting providers, many used a similar method, but set terribly secret passwords, which the client could only find out upon request in technical support or in a personal email newsletter.
We found this super-secret approach redundant and inappropriate for clients. Sometimes access to the admin panel is needed urgently, and it can be very inconvenient to write an application, call or search for the desired letter from the hoster. Therefore, we indicated the data for additional authorization on the page in an explicit form, based on the simple assumption that bots cannot read and think, and teaching them specifically for our case is too time-consuming and ungrateful villainous occupation.
Something like this looks like a page with additional authorization (sorry, it was not before beautiful design pages):
We also refused to use classic http-authorization due to the fact that the pop-up window asking for a username and password is not the best convenient way tell the client what happened to his CMS and why he sees this request. Such a window blocks the browser, scares you and makes it difficult to navigate.
Observations
In addition to fighting bots, it was very interesting for us to observe how their efforts are coordinated and distributed. Judging by the analytics from our system, the number of simultaneous requests for 1 hosting ip-address was consistently kept to no more than 30 for each CMS, regardless of the number of attacked sites on this address. Thus, if both Wordpress and Joomla! Sites were hosted on the same ip-address, the number of simultaneous calls was kept at 60 pieces. That's a lot for shared hosting.If the site stopped responding, requests to it instantly stopped. This is reasonable because it is more profitable for attackers to keep the victim alive. However, 60 concurrent requests is a large enough flow to be guaranteed to be noticed by both site owners and hosting providers. There is an opinion that it would be wiser for villains to brute force 3-4 times with a smaller flow of requests. In this case, the activity of the botnet would be much less visible.
The active phase of the attack began in the evening and continued throughout the night. Site addresses were given to bots in alphabetical order.
Thus, in the evening sites with the letter A began to suffer, and closer to the morning - sites on Z. In this sense, they were a little more fortunate.
And the fight continues again
The attack is still ongoing, albeit at a significantly slower pace. We managed to minimize the damage from the attack for shared hosting users. Users of dedicated physical and virtual servers remain at risk. In this case, it is impossible to centrally cover access to the CMS admin panel and protection measures must be taken by the server administrator.Thanks for attention! :)
All success in the fight against bots. methods for self-defense are sounded above. If you have a cool ready-made recipe, please comment!
