<cryptography, operating system, security> (SAM) A password
database stored as a registry file in Windows NT and
Windows 2000.
The System Account Manager (SAM) database stores users'
passwords in a hashed format. Since a hash function is
one-way, this provides some measure of security for the
storage of the passwords. In an attempt to enhance the
security of the SAM database against offline cracking,
Microsoft introduced the SYSKEY utility in Windows NT 4.0.
(2000-07-19)
Nearby terms:
System/370 « System 5 « System 7.5 « System Account Manager » system administration » system administrator » system analysis