Password blacklists are receiving considerable attention. It’s clear why: weak and compromised passwords are a factor in nearly all hacking-related cybersecurity breaches. Best practices from NIST require organizations to disallow the use of any common and compromised passwords. And several cyber security companies offer password blacklists for this purpose. But authentication requires a username and password combination, so shouldn’t we …
Exposure of NIH, WHO, and Gates Foundation Credentials Underscores the Critical Importance of Credential Screening
Earlier today, news broke that unknown activists have posted nearly 25,000 credentials belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and other organizations engaged in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. According to Souad Mekhennet and Craig Timberg at the Washington Post, “The lists, whose origins are unclear, appear to have first been posted …
Specialized Threat Intelligence: Breach Data to Defensive Solution
Fraud and account take-over cost companies billions of dollars every year. Many of these successful attacks are the result of credential stuffing, a vulnerability created by users’ reuse of passwords across systems and websites. Because of the risk of exposed passwords, the US-based National Institute of Standards and Guidelines (NIST) recommends screening accounts against lists of commonly-used and compromised credentials, …