Security Accounts Manager (SAM)
The Security Accounts Manager (SAM) is a database in
the Windows
operating
system (OS) that contains user names and passwords.
SAM is part of the registry and
can be found on the hard disk.
In the SAM, each user account can be assigned a local area
network (LAN) password and a Windows password. Both are encrypted. If someone attempts to log
on to the system and the user name and associated passwords match an entry in the SAM, a sequence
of events takes place ultimately allowing that person access to the system. If the user name or
passwords do not properly match any entry in the SAM, an error message is returned requesting that
the information be entered again.
In personal
computers (PCs) not connected into a LAN and for which there is only one user, Windows asks for
only one password when the system is booted up. This
function can be disabled if the user does not want to enter authentication
data every time the computer is switched on or restarted. The main purpose of the SAM in a PC
environment is to make it difficult for a thief to access the data on a stolen machine. It can also
provide some measure of security against online hackers.
This was last updated in May 2007
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