What are Password Vulnerabilities?

Password Vulnerabilities are the type of password attack. A password is a collection of letters, numbers, and special characters that is confidential and knows the user when they are created. Hackers crack the password by using brute force approaches and many techniques, it easily steals our sensitive information from websites and accounts. In this article, we will see a password vulnerabilities in detailed.

What are Password Vulnerabilities?

Password vulnerabilities mean that the person creates a password for a website account, and the password that is created is weak, such as 1234, 4321, or his date of birth. In that case, hackers easily crack the password, access our website accounts, and steal sensitive information. We secure a password by putting strong passwords with a combination of letters, numbers, or any special characters, and the length of the password varies from 8 to 16. Using multi-factor authentication also resolves the password risk.

Vulnerabilities in Password-Based Login

As we all know, a password is a collection of letters, symbols, and special characters. When we need to log in to any of the websites, accounts, etc., we first create the login credentials, which include an email ID, username, or password. The good thing is that on many websites, when we create a password that includes 1234 or 4321, it automatically gives a restriction to create a password that includes at least one uppercase or lowercase letter and any special characters, and the length of the password is between 8 and 16. If the hackers easily guess the password and crack it, then they steal our sensitive information.

Here are some common attacks that explain vulnerability issues in password-based login:

Brute Force Attack

Brute force attacks are part of password vulnerabilities. Hackers crack the password by using brute force. They guess multiple combinations, such as letters with numbers or letters with dates of birth. When they crack the password successfully, they can easily access our accounts and steal sensitive information.

Prevention of Brute Force Attack

• Avoid using the same passwords on different websites.

• Not putting passwords like your city name, date of birth, or your name. Hackers can easily guess it and crack the password successfully.

• Use two-factor authentication for security purposes. So that when any of the people log in to your account, they ask for the code that is going to your mobile number or in an email.

Dictionary Attack

A dictionary attack is a combination of words and phrases. Hackers try passwords such as the names of movie characters, pet characters, and people’s relatives. If using these techniques, they crack the password successfully, and in that case, they steal our sensitive information. In the dictionary attack, hackers mostly targeted financial institutions and e-commerce sites to steal sensitive information. In this attack, hackers use a leaked password that was previously used to make the attack successful.

Prevention of Dictionary Attack

• Use a combination of passwords that include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.

• Give login limits to the account. If the hacker tries to log in to your account three times, again and again, the login fails. When they logged in four times, they were blocked.

• Change or reset the password regularly.

Man-in-the-middle Attack

Man-in-the-middle attacks include users, attackers, or third parties, which means the attacks come either from users, hackers, or any third-party person who steals our sensitive information. They send an email that looks real. They convince the user to click the website link, and the website link looks authentic. When the user clicks the link and enters the credential, the hacker can easily access it and hack the user’s account.

Prevention of Man in the Middle Attack

• Always secure your WiFi network by using strong passwords.

• Update your devices and software regularly.

• Keep an eye on your website and email accounts. If any of the suspicious notifications come, So, update your password on your website and email accounts, and use multi-factor authentication so that when someone logs in to your account, the system asks for the code.

Spidering Attack

In a spidering attack, hackers targeted businesses and corporate offices. Using spidering techniques, hackers know that the companies use passwords related to their company name so that employees don’t forget the password. In that case, hackers can easily crack the password and access the company’s sensitive information. For example, the company name is XYZ, their password is XYZ@1234. So, hackers easily guessed it and cracked the password successfully.

Prevention of Spidering attack

• Use strong passwords for the company’s account, and don’t mention the company name in the passwords because hackers can easily guess it.

• Immediately change your password when anything is suspicious in your company’s account.

• Many companies run remote businesses, and they use Google Spreadsheets to store the company’s information. In that case, don’t put the password in the spreadsheet and give access to the sheet to only company members.

Guessing the Password

The best hack for hackers is guessing password cracking. Hackers guess the password randomly, like people, relatives, family names, pets, or hobbies. Even if the password is like 123456 or its reverse, they easily crack it and steal sensitive information.

Prevention of Guessing the Password

• Don’t directly open the links if someone not in your network sends them. Always check the header of the email because if you click the suspicious links, hackers will steal your information.

• Update your password regularly.

• Create a strong password, like abcA00123@#2547.

Credential Stuffing

This attack is focused on the username and password. Users go to the website and first create the password and username. In most situations, the user puts the username and password the same, such as putting the username as user123 and the password name as user123. In that scenario, hackers easily guessed it and cracked the password successfully.

Prevention of Credential Stuffing

• Setup login failed limit alerts.

• Use biometric multi-factor authentication like fingerprints and face recognition instead of passwords.

• Use Captcha’s to prevent credential stuffing.

How to Avoid Password Vulnerabilities?

• The password should be complex, with a mixture of uppercase, lowercase, and any special characters. Many websites automatically tell when the password is weak or strong. The length of the strong password is at least 8 to 16 characters.

• Make sure not to enter the same password on many websites. If we enter 123 on the XYZ website and 123 on the ABC website, The hacker easily cracks the password and steals the information from both websites.

• Use multifactor authentication to protect ourselves from password attacks.

• Always secure your account by changing your password from time to time. This will help us from cyber-attacks.

• Don’t write passwords in tools like spreadsheets. There are many password manager tools to secure our password.

• Always keep an eye out to make the account secure and check what activity is going on in our account.

Conclusion

With technology increasing rapidly, cyber security provides various security tools that protect our passwords. We can use a password manager tool to protect ourselves from password mishandeling & risk connected with it. We can use techniques like strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, fingerprints, and face recognition to protect ourselves from password vulnerabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions on Password Vulnerabilities – FAQ’s

Define password hashing?

It converts our data into small strings of letters or numbers by using an encryption algorithm. It protects the hackers from getting access to our passwords. Converting data and passwords into hashing algorithms makes the information secure, unreadable to humans, and tough to decrypt with the help of advanced technology.

Define password-based authentication?

It allows the user to enter the credentials, i.e., username and password. If the credential matches the saved credential present in the database, then the user gets successfully access to log in of the user handles, accounts and websites. 

What is the difference between a Brute force attack and a dictionary attack?

In brute force attacks, hackers try all the possible combinations of passwords which takes more time, while in dictionary attacks, hackers try all the possible words and phrases to access the user accounts, and hence it takes less time.