The GeForce RTX 5090 can crack passwords up to twice as fast as the RTX 4090

The GeForce RTX 5090 cracks hashed passwords twice as fast as the RTX 4090, highlighting better performance and security concerns.

: The GeForce RTX 5090, when compared to its predecessor RTX 4090, achieves up to double the speed in cracking hashed passwords. This improvement allows hackers an advantage in exploiting weak credentials, emphasizing the importance of complex passwords for security. Hive Systems has utilized the RTX 5090 in its latest Password Table update, demonstrating the GPU's power by testing speed against bcrypt hash functions with twelve GPUs. These tests underscore the critical need for adopting longer and more intricate passwords to safeguard data effectively.

The latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU is highlighted as a formidable tool in password cracking, showing improvements over the RTX 4090 model with its enhanced performance capabilities. According to a report by Hive Systems, a leading security company, and analysis by Alfonso Maruccia at TechSpot, these advancements pose a challenge to existing cybersecurity measures, as they can significantly reduce the time needed to crack passwords. Hive Systems has been exploring the limits of modern GPU hardware for years, and their most recent Password Table update reinforces the importance of this issue.

The GPU's power is demonstrated through tests involving the bcrypt hash function, a widely used cryptographic algorithm. Utilizing a powerful engine composed of twelve RTX 5090 GPUs, the system can crack simpler passwords with surprising speed. For instance, an all-numeric eight-digit password can be determined in just 15 minutes. When including lowercase letters only, the task extends to about three weeks. However, the addition of mixed-case letters and numbers elongates this timeline to 62 years, and including symbols further extends it to an estimated 164 years.

This progress marks a significant leap from the RTX 4090, which already provided a considerable advantage in breaking complex passwords. The RTX 5090 offers a further 33% performance boost while exhibiting a doubling in efficiency for passwords containing numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols. Such advances mean that decrypting a complex password, which previously took 2,000 years, might now take "just" 1,000 years, which still remains largely impractical but underscores the enhanced potential of this technology.

Alfonso Maruccia comments on the heightened danger this presents to users and organizations. Access to databases of compromised password hashes would be essential for any real-world exploitations. Consequently, the importance of complex password creation is emphasized to create substantial barriers against unauthorized access. Constant updates to personal and organizational credentials are urged as older passwords lack the robustness needed against such hardware capabilities.

In light of these developments, Hive Systems' work serves as a critical reminder of the evolving landscape within which cybersecurity professionals operate. It underscores the necessity of transitioning to robust, multi-factor authentication and adopting longer, more complex passwords to hedge against growing cyber threats. The continuous enhancement of GPU technology fosters both opportunities and challenges, forcing ongoing adaptations in data protection strategies to mitigate potential risks efficiently.

Sources: TechSpot, Hive Systems

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