How dangerous are weak passwords to your IT infrastructure?
Did you know 80% of data breaches involve stolen or weak passwords as the main vulnerability?
Today’s security landscape shows that using stolen credentials to breach network resources is the number one tactic that hackers use. Weak passwords are a serious liability for all businesses – it takes just one weak or cracked password for a cybercriminal to gain access to your data, personal information or accounts.
If you want to protect your data online, in the cloud or on your personal devices, introducing multi-factor authentication is a smart move. It can help avoid costly downtime, significant reputational damage, and steep regulatory fines.
In our latest blog, we examine the dangers of weak passwords and explore how multi-factor authentication can keep you ahead of the hackers.
Weak and stolen passwords
A strict password management policy is an essential first line of defence in all businesses and organisations that want to prevent a data breach.
We are all aware that we should never use the same password across multiple accounts or devices. Unfortunately, many people believe by changing just one character of their password on different platforms they are doing enough. This is simply not the case.
Using a combination of your names or personal details is not safe either. Sophisticated hackers utilise social media and online research to piece together key information on a target which enables them to crack personalised passwords.
Cybercriminals try their luck at breaching multiple accounts at once by entering commonly used passwords. This kind of brute force attack is known as password spraying. Hacking attempts of this nature normally have some success as they target people on such a large scale. Shockingly, basic passwords like ‘12345’, ‘qwerty’ or even ‘password’ still catch people out.
An ideal password is made up of 16 unique, random and complex characters, numbers and symbols. Although they may be difficult to remember, the chance of someone guessing a password of this nature is extremely low.
What is multi-factor authentication?
Multi-factor authentication is the process of proving a user’s identity by requiring two or more levels of verification to log in to a resource like an online account or VPN. MFA is a core component of any strong online security infrastructure and vital for those with private or sensitive data online.
Rather than just asking for a user’s login and password, MFA requires an additional level of authentication. This extra step becomes the deciding factor as to whether a hacker can gain access to your accounts.
After inputting the usual login credentials, additional authentication factors include:
One-time password – typically between 4-8 digits
Authentication through a smartphone app
Using a known or trusted account
Using another piece of knowledge
Biometrics – fingerprint or facial recognition
Hardware key
The importance of MFA
As so many cyber-attacks involve weak and stolen passwords, implementing additional layers of password security should be a no-brainer for businesses and organisations of all sizes.
Once a cybercriminal gains access to a password – by guessing it, buying it on the dark web, or through a social engineering attack like phishing, – they will have instant access to your sensitive and private data if there isn’t an additional verification step in place.
Multi-factor authentication protects your identities, accounts, assets and information and will keep you ahead of the ever-changing cyber threat landscape.
The added security step dramatically increases the degree of difficulty for hackers to breach your network and it reduces the chance that one compromised credential is enough to launch an attack.
WatchGuard AuthPoint MFA
WatchGuard AuthPoint delivers on the promise of multi factor authentication by limiting the business risk associated with poor passwords without compromising on ease of use for employees and IT staff alike.
AuthPoint MFA provides the security you need to protect your user credentials, assets, accounts and information. It allows your company to work confidently and worry free.
WatchGuard’s MFA solution:
Protects identities
Reduces network disruptions
Minimises the chance of data breaches arising from weak or stolen credentials
The cloud-based and hassle-free authentication can be accessed straight from your mobile phone. It allows you to view AuthPoint reports and alerts, configure services, and manage tokens all from the WatchGuard Cloud.
Don’t wait for an attack to happen to you. Protect your personal information and sensitive data now with multi-factor authentication. Contact us and get a free 30-day trial!
