Compromised credentials are the leading threat to businesses in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Weak, reused, or stolen passwords provide cybercriminals easy access to sensitive systems. With billions of credentials leaked on the dark web each year, organizations face account takeover (ATO) attacks, ransomware infections, and costly data breaches.
As IT and security advisors, it’s critical to help businesses adopt proactive strategies, including strong password policies, real-time credential monitoring, and dark web intelligence, to ensure organizations are protecting themselves end-to-end.
According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) and IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, compromised credentials remain the top cause of data breaches. Cybercriminals exploit stolen passwords through credential stuffing, password spraying, phishing, and ransomware deployment. Businesses risk financial losses and operational disruptions if they fail to secure their credentials.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is often considered a strong security measure, but it isn’t foolproof and has unintentionally caused organizations to depend on MFA alone to prevent hackers. Attackers bypass MFA using push notification spamming, token theft, and social engineering. Nearly half of security incidents analyzed by Cisco Talos involved MFA bypass. Bringing organizations back to a layered approach by combining MFA with real-time credential monitoring from Enzoic ensures stolen passwords are blocked before attackers can exploit them.
With compromised credentials being a top cyber threat, businesses need solutions beyond firewalls and antivirus software. Integrating real-time credential monitoring and dark web intelligence helps prevent breaches before they happen.
Credential security requires ongoing monitoring. Offering credential screening and password policy enforcement as a managed service not only protects clients but also creates a steady stream of recurring revenue. As cyber threats evolve, businesses are actively seeking better security solutions, making credential security a critical competitive advantage for IT security partners.
To effectively combat credential-related threats, businesses need a multi-layered approach, including:
First, credentials are stolen in data breaches, making their way to underground forums. From there, attackers use automated tools to test these credentials and takeover accounts; this is referred to as credential stuffing or password spraying. Once an account is compromised, attackers can escalate access, carry out lateral phishing attacks, steal data, and/or deploy ransomware. Detecting and blocking compromised credentials in real-time is essential to preventing account takeover and subsequent damage
Credential security is essential to prevent data breaches and cyber threats. With stolen credentials fueling most cyberattacks, businesses need continuous monitoring, password policy enforcement, and dark web intelligence to stay protected.
Enzoic provides a comprehensive suite of credential security solutions tailored for IT security partners:
Review the full paper, Cybersecurity Guide for Partners: The Growing Threat of Compromised Credentials. Questions? Contact Enzoic to enhance your cybersecurity offerings and combat the growing threat of compromised credentials.