all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited is een all-in-one privacy-oplossing"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Geen advertenties. Standaard privacy."],"People before profits":["Mensen vóór winst"],"Security through transparency":["Veiligheid door openheid"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["De beste ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }-deals voor Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["'s Werelds enige door de community ondersteunde e-mailservice"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } uur","${ hours } uur"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nog ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } en ${ secondsLeft } resterend"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuut","${ minutes } minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } seconden"],"Limited time offer":["Aanbieding beperkt geldig"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Maak meerdere e-mailadressen aan"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-aliassen"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Meld u eenvoudig af voor nieuwsbrieven"],"Use your own domain name":["Gebruik uw eigen domeinnaam"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Zoals te lezen in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Kies voor beveiligde e-mail die uw privacy beschermt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Tot 40% korting"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Profiteer tijdens Black Friday van wel 40% korting op Proton Mail-abonnementen. Bekijk geweldige aanbiedingen voor onze veilige, end-to-end versleutelde e-mailabonnementen."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale | Tot 40% korting op veilige e-mail"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30 dagen niet-goed-geld-terug-garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["U bespaart ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ DISCOUNT } off":["−${ DISCOUNT }"],"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ik ben fan van ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mijn favoriete e-mailservice"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Proton houdt ons allemaal veilig in het complexe internetuniversum."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Je krijgt waarvoor je betaalt. In het geval van Big Tech betekent 'gratis' dat je wordt gebruikt. Ik ben gestopt met Gmail en overgestapt op @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Dagen"],"Hours":["Uur"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["En nog veel meer"],"Make your inbox yours":["Personaliseer uw inbox"],"Safe from trackers":["Beschermd tegen trackers"],"Stay organized":["Houd overzicht"],"Black Friday email deals":["Black Friday-deals voor e-mail"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["U hoeft ons niet te geloven"],"Our story":["Ons verhaal"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Zet uw gegevens van Google over met één klik"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } landen, verbinding met maximaal 10 apparaten, wereldwijd toegang tot streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Deel uw agenda eenvoudig met uw familie, vrienden of collega's, en bekijk externe agenda's."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 1 aangepast e-maildomein, 10 e-mailadressen, 10 hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 3 aangepaste e-maildomeinen, 15 e-mailadressen, onbeperkt hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Beheer tot 25 agenda's, mobiele apps, beveiligd met end-to-end versleuteling, agenda's van Google importeren met 1 klik, en meer."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Momenteel werkt de dienst van Proton VPN niet naar behoren"],"Learn more":["Meer informatie"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Meer informatie"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["We ondervinden op dit moment problemen met de ${ issues[0] }service."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["We ondervinden momenteel problemen met een of meer services."]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggesties"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subcategorie","Subcategorieën"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } min","${ readingTime } min"],"Category":["Categorie","Categorieën"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Niet gevonden wat u zocht?"],"General contact":["Algemene contactgegevens"],"Get help":["Krijg hulp"],"Legal contact":["Contactgegevens voor juridische zaken"],"Media contact":["Contactgegevens voor media"],"Partnerships contact":["Contactgegevens voor partnerschappen"],"Reading":["Lezen"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["App-versie"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Kijk of dit helpt"],"Choose a product":["Kies een product"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Heeft dit uw probleem opgelost?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Snellere hulp is met een paar klikken geregeld"],"How can we help?":["Hoe kunnen we helpen?"],"No, contact support":["Nee, contact opnemen met ondersteuning"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Vul de velden achter elkaar in"],"Please make your selections":["Maak een keuze"],"Proton account":["Proton-account"],"Proton Bridge":["Proton Bridge"],"Proton Calendar":["Proton Calendar"],"Proton Drive":["Proton Drive"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Proton Mail":["Proton Mail"],"Proton Pass":["Proton Pass"],"Proton VPN":["Proton VPN"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Bedankt voor uw feedback"],"What can we help with?":["Waar kunnen we mee helpen?"],"Yes":["Ja"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Zoekopdracht"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Zoeken"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Ik ben op zoek naar"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Om problemen sneller op te lossen, meldt u het via de Bridge-app: Help > Een probleem melden."],"Information":["Informatie"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Accountbeveiliging"],"Contacts":["Contactpersonen"],"Custom email domain":["Aangepast e-maildomein"],"Email delivery and Spam":["E-maillevering en spam"],"Encryption":["Versleuteling"],"Login and password":["Inlognaam en wachtwoord"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Aliassen en 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What is a rainbow table attack and how to prevent it? | Proton
In this article, we explore how rainbow table attacks work and discuss ways to prevent them.
Rainbow table attack definition
A rainbow table attack is a cryptographic attack hackers use to break into systems by figuring out passwords from their hashes, which act as digital fingerprints. A hash function maps each password with a corresponding string of characters.
Unlike a brute-force attack(new window) that tries every possible password one by one, a rainbow table attack doesn’t require guesswork once the table is precomputed. This precomputed table (known as a rainbow table because of the way it looks if color-coded) is essentially a large database of hash value pairs linked to their plaintext counterparts.
How a rainbow table password attack works
1. Creating a list of passwords
When creating rainbow tables, hackers often target the most likely and commonly used passwords with simple patterns (for example, 123456, password, or qwerty), dictionary words, or password dumps obtained from data breaches.
2. Selecting the hash function and converting the passwords
Rainbow table attacks work well with simpler, faster cryptographic hash functions like MD-5, SHA-1, LM Hash, or NTLM Hash since they don ’t use security features like salting (adding random data to each password before hashing) or key stretching (repeatedly hashing the password).
Password hashed with MD-5
Plaintext password
482c811da5d5b4bc6d497ffa98491e38
password123
Each plaintext password runs through the hash function to generate its corresponding hash, which has a unique, fixed-size string of characters as in the example above. Once all passwords are hashed, the hacker can use them to create the rainbow table.
3. Creating the rainbow table to reveal passwords
A rainbow table can be seen as a big Excel sheet, with hashed passwords in the first column and plaintext passwords in the second. If a breached hash is present in this table, that means the breached password is the cell next to it.
Rainbow table attack examples
Here are two hypothetical examples to illustrate how a rainbow table attack could play out:
A hacker identifies a social media site that uses an outdated hashing algorithm without any salting. By exploiting a SQL injection flaw, the attacker extracts the hash values of user passwords from the website’s database. Then they use a precomputed rainbow table to quickly convert thousands of these hashes back into plaintext passwords, compromising user accounts.
During routine network monitoring, a hacker discovers that an e-commerce website transmits password hashes insecurely between its servers and uses network sniffing tools to capture this data. Since they now have access to the password hashes, the hacker uses a rainbow table attack to decode customer passwords, gaining access to their shopping accounts and personal information.
Rainbow table attack data breaches
Rainbow table attacks have been used in the real world to steal millions of login details.
For example, a 2012 LinkedIn hack(new window) by Russian cybercriminals resulted in the theft of nearly 6.5 million user account passwords, causing a significant data breach. Following the initial discovery, LinkedIn found an additional 100 million compromised email addresses and passwords in 2016 related to the same incident. The stolen passwords were poorly protected, lacking additional security measures like salting, making them easier for attackers to decrypt using standard rainbow tables
How to prevent rainbow table attacks
Choose platforms with strong hash functions
Secure hash functions like bcrypt(new window) or Argon2(new window) use salting(new window) to add random data to your password before creating its hash. Without the salt, the password’s hash won’t show up in a rainbow table, so an attack would fail.
If you run your own websites or databases, keep your security settings updated by using plugins or modules that implement strong hashing algorithms.
Use complex passwords
Instead of using easy-to-guess passwords, opt for secure passwords(new window) made from at least 12 characters, which contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Examples of strong passwords are ?GmmM1Z[c5:F or beht=ty]P:)Gf^c?p?+7. It’s unlikely for a cyberattacker to target such complex passwords using rainbow table attacks.
Turn on multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) like two-factor authentication (2FA)(new window) adds at least one more form of authentication to the password request, such as a code on your 2FA authenticator. If an attacker successfully discovers your password after a rainbow table attack, they won’t be able to pass the next steps of authentication.
Additionally, if you get an unexpected request for extra verification, it’s a clear sign that someone is trying to get into your account. You can quickly respond by changing your password.
Use alias email addresses
Alias email addresses(new window) can protect you from data breaches that could lead to rainbow table attacks since they are not connected to your primary email addresses. For example, you can keep using your main email for important messages and finances while reserving email aliases for less secure activities, such as signing up for untrusted services. If your alias email address is hacked, you can simply disable it.
Monitor the internet for data breaches
By staying informed about the latest breaches, you can determine if any of the services you use have been compromised and if your data has been leaked. This allows you to take proactive steps, such as changing your passwords immediately, to prevent hackers from using potentially exposed data to gain unauthorized access to your accounts.
All Proton Pass subscribers can use Pass Monitor(new window) to monitor the health of all passwords and Dark Web Monitoring(new window) to track various sources for data breaches. Our security model(new window) uses the secure bcrypt hashing algorithm, which salts your passwords before hashing them to stop rainbow table attacks. Furthermore, we run an advanced security program called Proton Sentinel(new window) to detect and prevent account takeover attacks.
Start securing your accounts from rainbow table attacks by signing up for a free Proton Pass account today.
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