January 30, 2023
Employees of small and medium-sized businesses that lack a strong cyber risk posture are often careless with their login credentials, passwords, etc. This can be an enormous problem. If these credentials are exposed and shared in the public domain (dark web or elsewhere) you can easily fall victim to credential stuffing schemes being carried out widely by the bad guys. These can result in theft of funds and stolen sensitive information. They can cause events that half of young businesses never recover from, and create a nightmare of regulatory obligations that leave you battered, and create mistrust among clients and business partners.
Credential stuffing is an automated attack method used by hackers where they take lists of user credentials obtained through previous data breaches or phishing campaigns and attempt to use them on other websites. The goal of these attackers is usually financial gain; they are attempting to hijack customer accounts in order to commit fraud or steal sensitive information. Unfortunately, many small businesses lack the resources necessary to properly secure their networks against this type of attack, leaving them vulnerable.
Credential stuffing is happening every day, thanks to more hacker systems designed to make it easy for bad actors. This is an automated attack method used by bad actors to gain access to your accounts and commit fraud or steal sensitive information. Unfortunately, small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable to these attacks due to their lack of resources for proper cybersecurity. Often, employees reuse passwords creating an open door to huge cyber risks.
There are many actions you can take to limit their ability to gain unauthorized access. To protect your company from credential stuffing attacks, SMBs need to be aware of the dangers and take proactive steps to do all pragmatic things possible. These include implementing multi-factor authentication technology everywhere, having strong password and credential management policies and obtaining comprehensive cyber insurance coverage. MFA technology requires users to enter their username/password combination plus another form of authentication (such as a code sent via SMS or a software authenticator). This added layer of security makes it much more difficult for hackers who rely on stolen credentials alone in order to conduct chaos.
Securing your enterprise in the modern world is a cost of doing business. That doesn’t have to mean that you must go out and contract expensive consultants or hire costly full-time cybersecurity experts. Finding a good cybersecurity group that caters to your sized business is key. Typically, they should tailor their work to your needs.
TEKRiSQ offers cyber risk assessments that identify these things. Please review the various assessment options, and schedule yours today.
