Title: FPGA MD5 Password Cracker

Abstract: I set out on a quest to explore the parallellism of FPGAs. I wanted a project that I could compare with CPU:s. The MD5 algorithm is relatively simple to implement and can easily be compared to CPU cracking speeds.

The FPGA MD5 Cracker implements multiple MD5 cores to brute force crack passwords stored with the MD5 algorithm. The proof-of-concept solution uses Alteras DE2-115 board and and the user interacts with the system using a UART interface.

During tests the 50Mhz FPGA MD5 Cracker beat a i7 CPU clocked at rougly 3GHz.

Johan Granath, AGSTU School of Higher Vocational Education, Sweden