Your first line of defense — understanding password attacks and how to create truly secure credentials.
A proper password is the primary key for establishing the first line of defense for any network. Just like a physical key, it must be difficult to forge, kept safe (since it's extremely easy to make a “replica”), and it should be used — leaving something unlocked makes having a password meaningless.
Intruders typically rely on four methods of compromising your passwords:
This method involves guessing your password through thousands or millions of attempts. Most people naturally pick familiar words, and exhaustive password dictionaries carry the most popular choices and their variations. Examples of easily guessed passwords:
Any password based on a dictionary word is considered extremely unsafe.
It is possible to crack any password given enough attempts, since one can exhaust all possible combinations of letters, symbols, and numbers. A 4-character digit-only password can be cracked instantly. However, a 20-character password using digits (10), case-sensitive letters (56), and symbols (~10) would require an astronomical amount of time to break — even for a supercomputer.
The most casual scenario: an intruder finds a notepad or file with passwords, watches fingers as they type, or overhears a conversation revealing credentials. This transforms a cyber task into a simple physical one. A much smarter way to store passwords is using a password manager.
The fastest method if the intruder has sufficient access to a computer used by the victim. A “sniffer” program records all keystrokes made by everyone using the computer. After a short period, the keystroke logs are retrieved and it's fairly easy to locate the password sequence.
Contact us for a comprehensive security assessment and password policy implementation.