The LM hash was easier to break, so it has been disabled by default, starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. LAN Manager (LM) hash-The LM hash uses a really old hashing technique that supports a maximum password length of 14 characters (bytes), which is split in two halves of 7 bytes each. Basically, when you change a user's password, it is stored in two different ways: Microsoft calls the hashing algorithm a one-way function (OWF), but we will call it a hash for simplicity. Now that you understand the basic techniques, let's come back to the original question: how are passwords stored in AD? In both the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database and the AD database (NTDS.DIT), passwords are stored as a hash digest. Modern security standards suggest using a slower algorithm (like bcrypt) when it comes to password hashing rather than fast algorithms (like sha256 or sha512), since threat actors can't leverage modern computing resources (faster CPUs, GPUs, parallel processing, etc.) to speed up the password cracking process. Modern hashing algorithms, such as SHA-256 or bcrypt, offer stronger protection against password-guessing attacks. Unlike salt, it is not stored in the database. Similarly, pepper is a secret value that is either appended or used as a key to sign the original password value, which helps slow down brute-force attacks. The salt is usually stored in a database alongside a password hash, and it is helpful in thwarting rainbow table attacks. Salt is a plain-text value that is appended to the original password before the password is passed to a hash function. Salt and pepper are commonly used to safeguard against such attacks. Therefore, these are no longer recommended for use. The older algorithms (such as MD4 or MD5) are quite weak and thus are easier to crack. All passwords can be cracked when given enough time and computing power. Threat actors tend to steal password hashes and then run different types of attacks (brute force, dictionary, or rainbow table) for password guessing. Now, you might start thinking that a password, once hashed, is unbreakable.
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