Credential stuffing and brute force bot attacks are some of the most common and devastating categories of attacks you’ll ever see – and the numbers keep increasing.
One of the most recent statistics shows that there were over 10 million incidents of credential stuffing in the first quarter of 2022. Yes, these statistics are outdated. More recent statistics show that 83% of breaches in 2023 were from stolen credentials. Let’s wait and see what the 2024 statistics will be. And that’s not even touching on brute force bots…yet. There were 11,000 attacks per second of those in April 2023 alone.
Do you need more reasons to protect your website from these threats?
Below, we’ll tell you just how you can do that.
Credential Stuffing
Credential stuffing is where attackers use automated tools to input large amounts of usernames and passwords into login forms. Hackers rely on users repeating passwords. If there is a breach in data and login credentials become publicized, hackers use these to try accessing other sites in the hope that the same username-password combo has been reused. And often, it has. 78% of people in one survey use the same password across platforms.
As soon as they get into one set, they get access to other accounts, leading to massive information leakages. The result can be unauthorized access to personal accounts, financial fraud, or critical company data loss.
Brute Force Bots
Brute-force bot attacks involve systematically attempting every possible combination of passwords or encryption keys until the correct one is found. Brute force bots are software applications programmed to perform fast-paced attacks, making tens or hundreds of thousands of login attempts each second. Contrary to credential stuffing, brute force attacks are based on making all possible attempts until they find the right combination.
These bots are particularly effective against weak passwords, which can be cracked in seconds.
Why These Attacks Are Increasingly Common
Credential stuffing and brute force bot attacks have escalated for several reasons. Firstly, millions of username and password combinations exist on the dark web thanks to the high volume of data breaches, providing cybercriminals with endless credentials at their disposal.
The growth of automated tools and bots has made it easier for hackers to conduct these attacks on a much wider scale. They can try all possible combinations until successful since 24/7 bots don’t tire. This problem isn’t helped by the availability of botnets, enabling cybercriminals to launch massive coordinated attacks with minimal effort involved.
Lastly, many organizations are still not well equipped to protect themselves from these threats. So many SMEs don’t know about recaptcha and a recaptcha alternative – it’s more common to see them used by big brands. Despite the rising awareness, many websites still rely on weak passwords or have inadequate security measures.
Implementing Stronger Authentication Measures
One way to ensure your website is protected against credential stuffing and brute-force bot attacks is by implementing stronger authentication measures. Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is an essential security measure that requires users to provide at least two forms of identification before granting access as an added layer of protection.
Yes, to us users, it’s sometimes annoying (especially if you lose access to one account), but it is essential. It could be something that the user knows (password), something that the user has (mobile device), or something that the user has (fingerprint).
By using multiple types of authentication techniques, even if a bot successfully guesses or steals someone’s password, it can’t proceed without the second factor. MFA implementation can significantly reduce unauthorized access.
Another strategy is enforcing strong, unique passwords. Password policies requiring combinations of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters and having a certain length may generate more resistance to being cracked through brute force activities.
Bot Detection and Mitigation Tools
Using bot detection and mitigation tools becomes necessary for safeguarding your website from automated assaults. For example, some use techniques like monitoring traffic pattern analysis, behavior actions, and CAPTCHAs to differentiate between human users and bots.
Behavioral analytics tools can also identify abnormal login patterns, like multiple failed logins from one IP address, which might indicate brute force attacks or credential stuffing. CAPTCHAs can also effectively hinder the automated submission of login forms by requiring the completion of a task that is hard for bots to solve.
Rate limiting can greatly help prevent brute force attacks. This method restricts the number of times someone can try to log into your website within a timeframe from one IP address.
We’d also recommend having an IP blacklist and a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that can block known malicious traffic before it reaches the website.
Credential stuffing and brute-force botnet attacks pose significant dangers to businesses and their customers. It’s becoming more of an issue than we think people ever thought it would.
