Pass-The-Hash hashing is a data-security technique that has become increasingly important in the modern world. The concept is simple: instead of giving each user their own unique password, which is often predictable and easily cracked, you give them a hash of the entire password database.

 

By doing this, you make it harder for an outsider to determine the original passwords and to therefore make dictionary attacks on your accounts.

 

In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the main ways that attackers can gain access to your accounts using pass-the-hash attacks and how you can prevent these attacks from happening in the first place.

 

What is a Pass-The-Hash attack?

A pass-the-hash attack is when an attacker uses a tool or service meant to help you log into accounts on the internet. Unfortunately for the attacker, he or she isn’t the only one looking for this information.

 

When the information is sent to the wrong address, the information is likely to be garbled and/or broken. When this happens, the attacker can use this information to quickly log into your account and gain access to your data.

 

Let’s say an attacker logs into your work computer as your personal computer.

 

Since the attacker isn’t the only one looking for your data, they may also discover that you have other data that you’ve stored on your computer such as photos, music, and other important files.

 

When does a Pass-The-Hash Attack happen?

A pass-the-hash attack can happen at any time, whether you’re logged into a website or app or simply using your password to log in.

 

To do this, a hacker may try to use a service like password cracking to determine your password based on the information you’ve given them. If that service is successful, then the attacker has your password, or at least some pieces of it.

 

Fortunately, you can avoid a pass-the-hash attack by having a separate password for every account that you need to log into. When you use the same password for multiple accounts, you’re more likely to be fooled into giving up your password if someone has it already.

 

How To Prevent A Pass-The-Hash Attack?

It’s easy to prevent a pass-the-hash attack by using unique, strong passwords for every account that you need to log into.

 

While it is good practice to use a variety of different passwords on different accounts to avoid the same username and password being used on multiple online accounts, you don’t need to go overboard.

 

Another thing, you can get a completely reliable and safe Windows VPN to always log in to your accounts. This way, hackers won’t be able to track your digital footprints and location. So, whenever they try to locate you, it would show them a different location, making it impossible to track your activities and hack your accounts.

 

Mitigating The Effects Of A Pass-The-Hash Attack

One of the main ways to prevent a pass-the-hash attack is to use a service such as 1-click login that will automatically generate a unique and secure password for you.

 

Conveniently, it will make it much harder for an attacker to determine your passwords and log into your accounts without your knowledge. You can also use unique passwords on different computers and devices in your household so that if someone else accesses your account, you have to log back into each account individually.

 

Down the road, if someone were to fall victim to a pass-the-hash attack, they would then need to log into each account in turn to see what information is in those accounts.

 

While it may seem a time taking task, but a pass-the-hash attack is very quick and easy to prevent, so it’s worth taking the time to make sure that your accounts are secure.

 

What To Do If You Are Being Victimized By A Pass-The-Hash Compromise?

If you’re being impacted by a pass-the-hash attack, the first thing you have to do is try to log into the affected account using the service that was being hacked.

 

Ideally, the attacker couldn’t access any of your other accounts using this account if you have different passwords, so you can examine this one to see if any information was exposed.

 

Beyond that, you have to contact the company who provided the service to see if they can help.

 

On a company-level, you may be able to issue an executive order to shut down the entire server that was hosting the account. This would require significant computing power and would shut down the entire internet for everyone on those systems.

 

However, it’s unlikely that a company or the government would be able to do this, but you can use a software tool like black hat to try and shut down the server remotely.