Understanding and preventing credential stuffing attacks
Stolen Credentials
© Lead Image © peshkov, 123RF.com
A credential stuffing cyberattack uses username and password credentials stolen in a data breach to gain access to your accounts. We explain how it works and how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.
The good citizens of the Internet are frequently reminded that their passwords should contain a sufficiently complex combination of alphanumeric and special characters and, of course, meet or exceed a minimum length. Confusingly, the precise criteria for both is entirely dependent on which online service you use.
While security is everybody's responsibility, what should you be most concerned about if an online service lets you down and leaks your credentials, either through a malicious attack or simply through incompetence? The answer is twofold.
The first part of the answer depends on whether the online vendor informs you of the data breach straight away. I had my credentials stolen about a decade ago from a website that I had used once (around 2010, I think). The vendor reported the leak to a government department that did not make the breach public for a number of years afterwards, for reasons that I still don't find convincing. When I found out about the breach in 2014, I was horrified and immediately changed my password, eventually getting the vendor to completely close the account. Thankfully, only my name, age, postal address, email address, and order history were exposed, but potentially that's quite enough for identity theft.
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