Credentials are a set of attributes that uniquely identify an entity such as a person, an organization, a service or a device. According to IBM’s Cost of a data breach report, compromised credentials were the primary attack vector of 19% of the data breaches the study highlights. A 2021 data breach report by ITRC reveals that cyberattacks, including credential stuffing, made up 88% of data breaches in Q3 of 2022.
A credential threat involves an attacker attempting to steal a user’s details to gain unauthorized access to the user’s accounts. Often, attackers specifically focus on acquiring the user’s organizational access.
In this blog, we discuss credential theft and threats, types and impact of password attacks and credential management strategies to protect your information.
Credential theft is a cybercrime involving the unlawful attainment of a victim’s proof of identity with the intent to access and abuse critical data and information. A successful credential theft gives the attacker the same account privileges as the victim.
The 2022 Ponemon Institute State of Cybersecurity Report suggests that 54% of security incidents are caused by credential theft.
A credential-stealing attack happens when attackers maliciously acquire access and bypass an organization’s security measures to steal critical data.
Here are some of the most common reasons for credential theft:
Typically, attackers breach a low-level, less sophisticated server or platform and then use it to access a larger corporation. This approach may also include attacking third-party systems.
Here are some techniques malicious actors employ in acquiring sensitive information:
Internationally, the average cost of a data breach in 2020 for businesses was $4.35 million, according to IBM. However, for the U.S, the average cost was the highest worldwide at $9.44 million. Data breaches have a considerable financial impact on organizations, especially in industries that manage sensitive information or deal with customer data.
Per the same report, the average critical infrastructure breach costs more than $1 million more than successful attacks on hospitality, entertainment, consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies.
Personal health information (PHI) breaches affect organizations, individuals and other stakeholders to varying degrees. Due to attackers’ unauthorized access to over 70 million patient records in 2015, Anthem (now Elevance Health) had to pay about $40 million in settlement fees and about $17 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Target’s data breach in 2013 cost the company $18.5 million in multistate settlement fees. Identity theft, blackmail and reputational damage are other effects of compromised user credentials on individuals and organizations.
Complete protection from cybercriminals is almost impossible, but organizations can take steps to reduce the probability of successful malicious attacks to a minimum. Per a study by Microsoft, two-factor authentication (2FA) can prevent 99% of account attacks. Multi-factor authentication is an effective method for securing sensitive information.
Consider some of these credential management strategies:
Enterprise password managers leverage security strategies such as encryption to protect credentials. Password management solutions such as Keeper also help users to generate secure passwords and provide advanced monitoring and compliance reporting.
Keeper enables your team to control who has access to passwords and secrets. In addition to generating secure passwords, Keeper helps organizations identify compromised user credentials by monitoring the dark web and other platforms for a match with data in your password vault.
Want to manage access to your organization’s data and customer information? Try Keeper for free.
Credential harvesting is an attack involving phishing and other exploits to gather credentials such as usernames and passwords. Cybercriminals may use credentials for personal purposes or trade them on the dark web.
Attackers acquire sensitive data mostly through credential phishing. Some other common methods for credential theft include ransomware, brute force attacks and purchase on the dark web.
Password spraying is an approach used by malicious attackers to acquire unauthorized access to an account by using a list of common weak passwords such as 123456 or 00000. This method enables cybercriminals to access multiple accounts in one attack.
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