Password authentication isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s part of our culture, users and employees are accustomed to it, and many systems depend on the “what you know” layer. Newer technologies like biometrics might work in certain situations, but they won’t replace passwords altogether anytime soon. In our series on password security, we’ve talked about some worrying trends, the myths …
What to Take Away from World Password Day
Our digital world is reliant on passwords and will be for a long time. As the pandemic forced almost all aspects of life online, protecting privacy and staying safe on the web has become a time-sensitive and growing issue. Passwords have a terrible reputation as the weak link in our approach to cybersecurity in many areas. However, the reality is …
Eight Rules for Effective Password Protection
In the current business landscape, the largest threat to an organization is a data breach. Data breaches end up costing businesses a significant amount of lost time and revenue and can lead to a loss in consumer confidence for the business as well. So then, what is the largest reason leading to a data breach? According to Verizon’s annual report, …
Password Spraying: How Common Passwords Threaten Your Organization
When hackers target your organization with a password spraying attack, hackers are betting that one (or more) of your employees is logging in with a commonly used password. Threat actors adopt this attack method because it can be done slowly enough to avoid account lockouts. This is just one type of password attack that could hit your organization, and cyber …
A Benchmark for Your Unsafe Passwords
News and warnings about data breaches and leaks abound at the moment, emphasizing the need for increased cybersecurity regardless of the industry. Microsoft’s Active Directory is often the perfect target for bad actors seeking to abuse compromised credentials. Despite the frequency of compromised credentials being the cause of data breaches, most organizations do not know whether their users’ passwords are safe. …
The Ways to Prevent Password Cracking
Cracking dictionaries are software programs that compile lists of unique words, common passwords, and iterations of common passwords. These words are collected from public domain files from multiple sources and in various formats. With cracking dictionaries, hackers narrow the universe of possible passwords to try. Instead of a brute force attack that tries every possible character combination, the hacker can …
Root Passwords: The Root of Password Problems
The average online user has over 90 accounts between personal and work accounts that require a password. That is a daunting number of unique passwords to memorize. In an effort to remember their passwords, most users will select common “root” words with easily guessable variations. These root passwords become predictable passwords when one becomes compromised. Password Expiration Policies The situation …
Preventing Common Passwords in Active Directory
Preventing common passwords in Active Directory is critical for protecting sensitive employee, user, and customer accounts. Why Should Organizations Screen for Regularly-Used Passwords? Many employees use weak passwords and are completely unaware of it. They can’t imagine their specific password is a common password that’s being chosen by other people as well. The organization and the employee both think their …