In today's interconnected, cloud-based world, user credentials are the keys that grant entry to the house that stores an organization's digital treasure.
Just as burglars pick the lock on a physical house, cybercriminals use stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to a company's systems and networks.
Cybercriminals can purchase high volumes of stolen credentials on the dark web just like thieves can buy lockpicking tools.
By purchasing combo lists on the dark web, malicious actors can buy all the leaked credentials necessary to perpetrate their attacks.
A combo list is a collection of compromised usernames and their associated passwords that malicious actors use to populate their automated brute-forcing tools.
As with any large dataset, combo lists have more value when they aggregate more credentials, typically incorporating data from multiple breaches.
Since attackers treat cybercrime as a business, they want to optimize their financial investment in combo lists by using them in different ways.
Using tools purchased on the dark web or other illicit forums, attackers test the stolen credentials against various websites and applications, hoping to find a match and gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Even if someone resets the password for a service that experienced a data breach, they may not have reset the password across all services.
Attackers use automation to try the email credentials across critical business services.
Malicious actors can use the combo list to deploy social engineering attacks against the users.
Since corporate email addresses include the company's domain, they can sort the lists to send targeted phishing attacks.
As with everything else in cybersecurity, protecting your organization from the risks associated with combo lists requires a multi-pronged approach across people, processes, and technologies.
Linking a user's credentials to either something they have or something they are thwarts malicious actors engaging in credential-based attacks because they can't pass that additional security layer.
To mitigate these risks, you should engage in clear and dark web monitoring to identify leaked credentials.
Malicious actors sell the combo lists on the dark web.
Once you find the compromised credentials, you can work with the employees who pose a risk to reset their passwords across all services.
With Flare's platform, you can implement dark and clear web monitoring strategies that mitigate risks associated with leaked credentials.
Flare's platform reduces manual processes so that you can proactively identify leaked or stolen account credentials across dark web forums, illicit Telegram channels, and open-source repositories.
With Flare's wide coverage and automated monitoring, you can dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with dark and clear web monitoring while enhancing your security posture.
This Cyber News was published on securityboulevard.com. Publication date: Fri, 29 Dec 2023 14:43:05 +0000