Most of us wouldn’t hand our car keys to a car thief…
But reusing compromised passwords may be doing just that.
Hackers who get passwords from data dumps or buy them on the dark web have the keys to enter sensitive accounts.
Data breaches can expose passwords, which may grant access to accounts and lead to the theft of personal information such as bank and credit card details.
Those who reuse the same compromised passwords for different accounts can also become victims of credential stuffing.
And here's the danger…
Hackers use "credential stuffing" to try stolen passwords on different accounts belonging to the same user, hoping to access more accounts.
Since this type of hack is on the rise, so are the opportunities a hacker has to steal even more PII. Either way, reusing passwords involved in a hack or breach can be a lose-lose situation.
Password Protection
- Change passwords immediately after finding your account may be exposed in a data breach.
- Use strong and unique passwords for each account and change them regularly. Include letters, numbers, and special characters.
- Use two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) when available, as they provide additional layers of security when logging-in.
- Keep passwords to yourself and don’t share them.
- Be aware of others watching when you type a password and always logout and close the browser window if applicable when done.
- Check password strength, if a website offers a strength analyzer when creating an account.
- Avoid using passwords with unsecured Wi-Fi as they can be intercepted and stolen.
Need a tip for creating passwords you can remember?
Try creating a base password of at least six characters. Then add some characters from the related website to that to create your password.
For example, if the base password is “XP2#z%” and your account is at acme.com, your password for that account would become “XP2#z%Ac” using the first two characters of the website on the end.
