Penetration Testing mailing list archives
RE: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies
From: "Paul Melson" <pmelson () gmail com>
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:01:05 -0400
That may not actually be such a bad password (on balance and in context). Sure it is a dictionary/leet word variant, but five characters actually carry plenty of entropy (if mixed case and numerics are also used). However, if you have an authentication mechanism that doesn't lock out an account and *allows* brute forcing, it doesn't really matter how strong the password is; given enough universe-lifetimes an attacker will always guess it eventually.
I second Martin's comment. There's no point in talking to users about password selection if the application doesn't A) lock the account after X number of failed attempts *AND* B) force password expiration/rotation. There's a very basic mathematical formula found in the Department of Defense Password Management Guideline[1] that can be used to calculate the risk associated with any particular password policy versus brute force guessing. Definitely required reading for anyone designing or specifying a password authentication mechanism. PaulM [1] http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow/std002.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This list is sponsored by: Cenzic Top 5 Common Mistakes in Securing Web Applications Find out now! Get Webinar Recording and PPT Slides www.cenzic.com/landing/securityfocus/hackinar ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Robin Wood (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Jakub (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Jakub (Jun 03)
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- RE: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Paul Melson (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Robin Wood (Jun 03)
- RE: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Paul Melson (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Anthony Cicalla (Jun 03)
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- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Robin Wood (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies pand0ra (Jun 03)
- Re: looking for a webapp bruteforce video for non-techies Anthony Cicalla (Jun 03)
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