L0phtCrack Updated After 7 Years, Cracks Windows And UNIX Passwords Up To 500 Times Faster

The first version of the renowned password cracker L0phtCrack (here are some more) was released about 20 years ago. It was the first password auditing tool for Microsoft Windows operating system. It changed the way how Microsoft worked with passwords, forcing it to dump LANMAN hash algorithm and switch to NTLM.

Since then, a lot has changed in Windows and cyber security world. Back then, L0phtCrack was able to crack the 8-character Windows password in about 24 hours. Now, L0pht Holdings, the developer of L0phtCrack, has announced the immediate availability of the revamped L0phtCrack 7. This new release comes after seven years as no new versions have been launched since L0phtCrack 6 in March 2009.

According to L0phtCrack 7 announcement post, this password cracking tool is now 5 times faster than L0phtCrack 6. If you make use of a GPU like AMD Radeon Pro Duo, you’ll experience an amazing 500 times speedup. The new version comes with a brand new cracking engine that utilizes multi-core CPUs and multi-core GPUs.

The password cracker notes that over the time, surprisingly, Windows password cracking has become easier. Wondering why? Microsoft still uses MD4, an insecure and 25 years old password hashing algorithm. On the other hand, Windows rivals, Linux and OS X have offered better password hashing algorithms.

Apart from faster password cracking, L0phtCrack 7 comes with a better password auditing wizard, reporting, and scheduling. The new release works with all versions of Windows along with the support for many new UNIX password hashes.

Here is the download link for 64-bit and 32-bit versions of L0phtCrack 7.

Did you find this article helpful? Don’t forget to drop your feedback in the comments section below.

Also Read: 10 Best Password Cracking Tools Of 2016 | Windows, Linux, OS X