Is windows machine password irrelevant?

[Guest Michael]

Is the password for my windows 11 machine irrelevant for cybercriminals? I’m asking because I’m worried someone may have my computer MAC address and I was wondering if they could somehow use that and brute force my windows password to remotely gain access to my computer. If they don’t have my router mac or ip address am I safe?

[Aryeh Goretsky 362]

Hello,

I would not say your Windows password is irrelevant.  If you are logging in to a domain-joined machine, or using your Microsoft account (email) to log in, than an attacker being able to obtain your password could lead to the account being compromised, theft of your data, theft from other accounts, and so forth.

As far as MAC addresses go, they are pretty useless to an attacker in most scenarios as it is not going to give them any information they can use for user-centric attacks.  It may be more useful for some kinds of network attack planning.  In any case, MAC addresses are not usually available to other devices outside of your local network, so someone who is halfway around the world having it, or even just across town, is not going to be able to do too much with it.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky