Brute Force Attacks: How To Protect Against Password Thieves

A brute force attack is a method cyber criminals use to easily figure out weak or insufficiently secure passwords. Instead of relying on ingenuity, they systematically work their way through random character combinations and commonly-used passwords until they gain access to whatever it is that they’re targeting. In this article, we’ll let you know what methods they employ and how you can minimize your exposure to their illicit efforts.
Online shops, platforms, and even corporate intranet systems depend on password-protected accounts. As of 2017, the average US internet user had 150 accounts ⇱. To gain unauthorized access, hackers frequently resort to rather rudimentary methods: guessing your password. In essence, they try all possible combinations until they hit on a winner.
According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Report ⇱, 23 percent of the firms which responded had been targeted by some sort of brute force attack. Once an account has been compromised, cyber criminals often wreak further havoc by carrying out a ransomware attack. And the worst part? Even if they’re not successful in their efforts, you’ll rarely find out, since few platforms are transparent about the number of attacks they’re subjected to.
When hackers launch brute force attacks, they fall back on trial and error, testing a variety of different character combinations until they hit on the right one. This isn’t carried out manually, but rather, with the help of an algorithm. The amount of time it takes to find the correct ‘key’ depends on the length of the password and the sophistication of the hardware at their disposal:
With the EXPERTE.com Password Checker you can find out approximately how long a computer needs to crack a specific password.
Schwache Passwörter, die bekannte Begriffe oder Namen enthalten, lassen sich besonders leicht identifizieren.
Just as with phishing attacks and other kinds of cybercrime, hackers launching brute force attacks often pursue multiple goals:
Hackers don’t always limit themselves to random character combinations. Based on the method employed, it’s possible to classify brute force attacks into the following categories:
The public rarely learns about attempted or successful brute force attacks. Nevertheless, from time to time, such attacks do make the headlines:
There is no way to prevent a brute force attack. With that said, by employing the correct strategies, users can make it difficult for hackers to ferret out their passwords. IT specialists can also do much to ensure that the servers they are responsible for are as adequately secured against attack as possible.
Brute force attacks pose a threat to regular Internet users, server administrators, and businesses. There isn’t a perfect solution, but if you opt for the correct strategies, you can make hackers’ lives extremely difficult.
If you fall in the first category, you can protect your data by employing strong passwords, and, ideally, a password manager. It’s also advisable to look into two-factor authentication or passwordless options. For their part, administrators can keep hackers at bay by correctly configuring remote desktop and SSH connections, setting a maximum number of login attempts, and monitoring traffic.
Brute force attacks are attempts by hackers to compromise a password by trying all possible combinations. They either generate random character combinations with a piece of software (classic brute force attack) or use a list of real words (dictionary attack).