Syskey

<p>The SAM Lock Tool, better known as Syskey (the name of its <a href="/facts/Executable_file/VSst9eLA">executable file</a>), is a discontinued component of <a href="/facts/Windows_NT/EtccWvxQ">Windows NT</a> that <a href="/facts/Encryption/16q29Fdv">encrypts</a> the <a href="/facts/Security_Account_Manager/2jEcKSWm">Security Account Manager</a> (SAM) <a href="/facts/Database/VYcpkevb">database</a> using a 128-bit <a href="/facts/RC4/HAR5kL0T">RC4</a> <a href="/facts/Encryption_key/5W5PAmT4">encryption key</a>.
</p><p>Introduced in the Q143475 hotfix for <a href="/facts/Windows_NT_4.0/EcKYxrkx">Windows NT 4.0</a> SP3, the tool was removed in <a href="/facts/Windows_10/be9IHehJ">Windows 10</a>'s Fall Creators Update in 2017 because its method of <a href="/facts/Cryptography/e94PEVau">cryptography</a> is considered insecure by modern standards and the fact that the tool has been widely employed in scams as a form of <a href="/facts/Ransomware/muT4jcxj">ransomware</a>. Microsoft officially recommended use of <a href="/facts/BitLocker/FBAjxdVf">BitLocker</a> <a href="/facts/Disk_encryption/v7E50jGw">disk encryption</a> as an alternative.
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Syskey open-in-new

Syskey