NTLM Version 2 | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Microsoft has announced that it  plans  to eliminate NT LAN Manager ( NTLM ) in Windows 11 in the future, as it pivots to alternative methods for authentication and bolster security. "The focus is on strengthening the Kerberos authentication protocol, which has been the default since 2000, and reducing reliance on NT LAN Manager (NTLM)," the tech giant said. "New features for Windows 11 include Initial and Pass Through Authentication Using Kerberos (IAKerb) and a local Key Distribution Center ( KDC ) for Kerberos." IAKerb enables clients to authenticate with Kerberos across a diverse range of network topologies. The second feature, a local Key Distribution Center (KDC) for Kerberos, extends Kerberos support to local accounts. First introduced in the 1990s, NTLM is a  suite of security protocols  intended to provide authentication, integrity, and confidentiality to users. It is a single sign-on (SSO) tool that relies on a challenge-response protocol that proves

A security researcher has disclosed details of an important vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook for which the company released an incomplete patch this month —almost 18 months after receiving the responsible disclosure report. The Microsoft Outlook vulnerability (CVE-2018-0950) could allow attackers to steal sensitive information, including users' Windows login credentials, just by convincing victims to preview an email with Microsoft Outlook, without requiring any additional user interaction. The vulnerability, discovered by Will Dormann of the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC), resides in the way Microsoft Outlook renders remotely-hosted OLE content when an RTF (Rich Text Format) email message is previewed and automatically initiates SMB connections. A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending an RTF email to a target victim, containing a remotely-hosted image file (OLE object), loading from the attacker-controlled SMB server. Since Microsoft Outlook a