Security News > 2024 > June > Microsoft deprecates Windows NTLM authentication protocol
Microsoft has officially deprecated NTLM authentication on Windows and Windows servers, stating that developers should transition to Kerberos or Negotiation authentication to prevent problems in the future.
New Technology LAN Manager, better known as NTLM, is an authentication protocol first released in 1993 as part of Windows NT 3.1 and as the successor to the LAN Manager protocol.
NTLM has been extensively abused in cyberattacks known as 'NTLM Relay' attacks, where Windows domain controllers are taken over by forcing them to authenticate against malicious servers.
Despite Microsoft introducing new measures to defend against those attacks, like SMB security signing, attacks on NTLM authentication continue.
NTLM will still work in the next release of Windows Server and the next annual release of Windows.
Microsoft fixes Windows Server bug causing crashes, NTLM auth failures.
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