Using Google To Crack MD5 Passwords

stern writes "A security researcher at Cambridge was trying to figure out the password used by somebody who had hacked his Web site. He tried running a dictionary through the encryption hash function; no dice. Then he pasted the hacker's encrypted password into Google, and voila — there was his answer. Conclusion? Use no password that any other human being has ever used, or is ever likely to use, for any purpose. I think."

Comments

Re:I wouldn't be too alarmed.

[cstdenis]

You do realize that most businesses (and therefore most websites you have accounts on) just store passwords plain text because it's easier to do tech support that way. Salted hashes are better than unsalted hashes, but most don't bother hashing at all.