How to defend your business against password theft
The widespread use of email, text messaging, and messaging apps has opened a virtual door for criminals looking to commit cyberfraud. But first, fraudsters must breach the sign-in systems that protect your computer network. They often try two primary methods: password theft and password attacks.
Video: An introduction to password theft
81% of hacking-related breaches start with weak or stolen passwords. For companies that rely on passwords alone to secure their networks, this is a sobering statistic. Fortunately, there are proactive solutions. Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds a strong layer of defense to stop would-be attackers in their tracks. In fact, up to 99.9% of modern automated cyberattacks can be blocked by MFA.Disclosure 2
How are companies protecting access to their systems?
- 58% use password-username combos
- 47% use mobile push-based MFA
- 31% use biometrics like fingerprint or face recognitionDisclosure 3
Case study: Meta develops innovative privacy-enhancing technology for stronger password protection.
Meta’s Enterprise Center is rolling out cutting-edge password security. Its private data lookup (PDL) automatically cross-checks all user-proposed passwords against a set of passwords previously exposed in data breaches. If a user suggests a password that’s been compromised in the past, the system provides an alert and prompts them to choose a different one.Disclosure 4 This prevents users from choosing exposed or overly common passwords.
Best practices and prevention
When it comes to cybersecurity, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here are some proactive ways to protect yourself and your employees against password theft and other password attacks.
Educate staff on password theft tactics and how to respond.
Since social engineering is one of the most common password-stealing techniques, train your employees to spot, dodge, and report phishing attacks. Also, provide clear instructions on what to do if they suspect their password has been compromised so they can act quickly when it counts.
Encourage strong password hygiene across your organization.
How do you create gold-standard passwords that would take more than 481,000 years to crack?Disclosure 5 Mix uppercase and lowercase letters with numbers and unique symbols, choose passwords 18 characters or longer, and exclude personal information like a pet’s name. Also, don’t reuse passwords, change them regularly, and prohibit single-access credentials for company sites.
Monitor suspicious activity on all your accounts.
Stay alert for unauthorized attempts to access computers and mobile devices. Watch out for IP addresses that aren’t associated with known employees. Attempted logins from strange locations and unknown machines are a major indicator that a password attack may be underway.
Implement multifactor authentication.
Multifactor authentication (MFA) strengthens your cybersecurity by requiring one or more forms of login verification such as one-time codes, security questions, or biometrics. With MFA in place, stealing an employee’s password won’t be enough for criminals to gain access to your systems.
Provide your employees with a secure password manager.
Password managers are automated programs that generate, store, and track passwords. Secure ones use heavily encrypted databases to protect the passwords they store for you and your team. When your employees don’t have to remember every password they use, they’re less likely to reuse the same ones across multiple services.
