NOW READ THIS
("Security Advisory")
Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master
NRT-0325 Password-Cracking Processor Causes Security Concerns:
A technique for cracking computer passwords using inexpensive off-the-shelf computer
graphics hardware is causing a stir in the computer security community. Elcomsoft, a
software company based in Moscow, Russia, has filed a US patent for the technique. It
takes advantage of the "massively parallel processing" capabilities of a graphics
processing unite (GPU), the processor normally used to produce realistic graphics for
video games. By using an $800 graphics card from nVidia called the GeForce 8800 Ultra,
Elcomsoft was able to increase the speed of its password cracking by a factor of 25.
The toughest passwords, including those used to log in to a Windows Vista computer,
would normally take months of continuous computer processing time to crack using a
computer's central processing unit (CPU). By harnessing a $150 GPU -- less powerful
than the nVidia's 8800 card -- Elcomsoft says passwords can be cracked in just three to
five days. Less complex passwords can be retrieved in minutes, rather than hours or
days. NVidia released a software development kit for its graphics hardware in Feb 2007.
Known as CUDA, the kit lets programmers access the computing power of the GPU directly.
It has gained a following among those with a need for high-performance computing,
particularly in fields such as science and engineering.
(New Scientists 24OCT07)