Did you know that 60% of data breaches involve stolen or compromised credentials? What are you doing to ensure your credentials are protected and not compromised?
Stolen or compromised credentials are used to access corporate data, accounts, resources, and more. No individual or corporation is immune to cyberattacks that start with compromised credentials.
Ensure your credentials are protected. Try WinZip® for free today.
What are compromised credentials attacks?
Compromised credentials attacks occur when cybercriminals or hackers use lists of compromised credentials to gain unauthorized access to accounts, systems, and data.
These attacks occur through phishing, malware infections, data breaches, or social engineering tactics.
Credential theft has become a more common type of cyber attack because so many people reuse passwords across accounts.
Cybercriminals use stolen credentials and duplication of passwords to gain broader access.
This means that if you use the same password on your Netflix account as you use for your online banking, you risk exposing far more than the content of your ‘recently watched’ list.
Signs of compromised credentials include remote access attempts, multiple failed login attempts, password resets, and more.
Some hackers disguise themselves as a trusted institution and ask you to confirm missing credentials by text or email.
Always look at the “from” address and not provide sensitive information over these channels—your legitimate institutions won’t ask you to do that.
What are some uses of compromised credentials?
One of the most common ways that hackers use compromised credentials is to gain access to a user’s accounts by logging in with stolen credentials, impersonating an authorized user, and then stealing data, money, or anything else of worth to the hacker.
Sometimes, cybercriminals access private photos or emails to use later for blackmail.
Once in your network, attackers use the stolen credentials to access other systems and escalate privileges within an enterprise setting, making it even more impossible to shut down.
Some hackers quietly deploy malware to work in the background of a network, silently collecting data and proprietary information for months.
Attackers can leverage the stolen information to make their communications appear more credible and gather additional sensitive data.
How often have you received an email or a Slack message from “your CEO” asking if you have a minute to help with an urgent request?
Your first instinct is to help, but your CEO will not ask for financial help from you. Something like this should be flagged immediately.
Implementing strong access controls, multi-factor authentication (MFA), employee training, and continuous monitoring for suspicious activity are all crucial to combatting the risks of compromised credentials.
Compromised credentials: Tactics and techniques
Attackers use common tactics and techniques to compromise credentials, including:
- Phishing attacks: Attackers fool users into providing their login credentials through deceptive emails, websites, or legitimate messages.
Tip: Always check the “from line” in any email. Also, look for fuzzy, low-resolution logos, wrong spelling, and incomplete sentences.
- Malware infections: This software can infect your devices and secretly record keystrokes, including usernames and passwords, which are transmitted to the attacker.
Tip: Don’t download suspicious software from unknown websites or click on digital ads that look too good to be true.
- Brute force attacks: Hackers use automated tools to systematically guess and try different password combinations until they find the correct one and gain unauthorized access.
Tip: Use strong passwords and employ MFA.
- Credential stuffing: Attackers obtain lists of stolen credentials from data breaches. They try using the compromised username and password combinations to attempt to log in to other accounts across various platforms.
Tip: Don’t reuse passwords! Consider subscribing to a password manager that will alert you when your credentials have been identified as being in breach.
- Social engineering: Tactics like pretexting, baiting, or impersonating trusted entities manipulate users into voluntarily revealing their credentials.
- Man-in-the-middle attacks: This cyber attack tactic works by intercepting and eavesdropping on network traffic to capture credentials transmitted in cleartext or through insecure connections.
Tip: Only use public Wi-Fi with a virtual private network (VPN).
- Dark web markets: Attackers can purchase cracked passwords and compromised credentials from darknet markets to attempt account takeover on their target platforms.
Tip: Update your passwords often, and do not reuse them.
The impact of compromised credentials
Unauthorized access can negatively affect individuals and organizations in many ways.
For Individuals, stolen credentials can lead to unauthorized access to personal accounts and personal data through emails, banking platforms, social media accounts, etc.
Attackers misuse compromised credentials to make unauthorized transactions, drain bank accounts, or conduct fraudulent activities.
This results in direct financial losses for individuals.
Compromised accounts can also be used to send spam or phishing emails or post inappropriate content, damaging an individual’s online reputation.
Think of how often you get a friend request on Facebook from someone you’ve been friends with for years.
Their account has been hacked.
Depending on how sophisticated the hacker is, they may be looking to profit from the user’s friend group or steal personal data to hack other accounts.
For organizations, compromised employee or system credentials provide attackers with initial access to infiltrate networks.
This can lead to widespread data breaches and the stealing of sensitive corporate data, intellectual property, or customer information.
Using compromised credentials, hackers can deploy ransomware, trojans, or other malware within the organization’s network.
Beyond the fines and legal liabilities, there’s significant productivity downtime and, worse, reputational damage.
So, while individuals face personal risks like identity theft and financial losses, organizations face broader consequences and have far-reaching impacts on the business and bottom line.
8 tips to prevent compromised credentials attacks
MFA is one of the first things to put in place to avoid compromised credentials.
This might be one of the only ways to stop a hacker dead in their tracks.
Many enterprises also invest in Zero Trust security, a model based on “never trust, always verify.”
Zero Trust security assumes that no user, device, or network component should be inherently trusted by default, regardless of location within or outside the network.
Here are eight practical ways to prevent compromised credentials attacks.
1. Implement MFA
MFA is one of the best defenses against compromised credentials. MFA requires an additional verification factor beyond a password, making it harder for hackers to crack the code even if they obtain valid credentials.
2. Enforce strong password policies
Creating complex passwords, changing passwords regularly, and preventing password reuse, must all be part of a standard organizational policy. These practices help reduce the risk of brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks.
To protect your most sensitive files, you can encrypt and enforce a strong password policy for your organization with WinZip Enterprise.
3. Deploy user and entity behavior analytics solutions
Deploying user and entity behavior analytics solutions will establish baselines for normal user behavior and can detect anomalies that may indicate compromised credentials. This includes unusual login times, locations, or data access patterns.
4. Implement least-privilege access controls
Regularly review and remove unnecessary privileged or dormant accounts that are no longer needed. By doing so, it limits the potential damage if credentials are compromised.
5. Regularly train employees
Provide employees with training and guidance to help recognize phishing attempts and other tactics to steal credentials. Educate them on the importance of not sharing passwords or using weak credentials.
6. Implement security monitoring tools and processes
Security monitoring tools can help detect and respond quickly to compromised credentials incidents, such as failed login attempts, lateral movement, or suspicious data access.
7. Store and manage privileged credentials securely
Put privileged credentials in a centralized vault and regularly rotate or reset them to minimize the risk of compromised static credentials.
8. Utilize cloud access security brokers
Cloud access security brokers can enforce identity and access policies across cloud services, preventing unauthorized access with compromised credentials.
A multi-layered approach—combining technical controls, user behavior monitoring, access management, and employee awareness—can significantly reduce the risk and impact of compromised credentials attacks.
The real cost of compromised credentials
By leveraging encryption, access controls, password policies, secure transfer, and principles like least privilege and Zero Trust, WinZip® Enterprise helps organizations reduce the potential impact and risks associated with compromised user credentials accessing sensitive data.
WinZip Enterprise allows the encryption of individual files or entire directories with unique passwords.
Encryption helps limit the exposure and impact of compromised user credentials, as only the files/folders encrypted with that specific password would be accessible to the attacker.
Instead of allowing free access across the network, WinZip Enterprise enables IT admins to control and track where and when data is accessed based on user roles and privileges.
Centralized management prevents broad access with compromised credentials.
With WinZip, admins can also specify strong password rules and requirements for the passwords used to encrypt files.
This helps reduce the risk of weak or reused passwords being compromised.
WinZip lets you securely transfer sensitive files using encrypted protocols like SFTP or encrypted email services, reducing interception risks if credentials are stolen.
Make WinZip your first line of defense against compromised credentials.
Ensure your credentials are protected. Try WinZip for free today.
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