Password Security

It should be self evident that a password-protected computer system cannot be considered safe if it's possible to compromise the password database. Windows does not have a spectacular track record in this regard, so it's worth your time to understand how passwords are formatted, stored, and protected. You should also be as familiar as possible with the tools used by bad guys to get access to your system passwords.

This topic also covers two new password-related features in Windows Server 2003:

  • Credentials cache. This feature permits storing alternate credentials for accessing standalone servers or servers that are on an outside domain.

  • Password Reset Disks. This feature permits users who have forgotten their local password ...

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