Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

A passphrase is a more secure way to create a password that uses a string of random words instead of a string of random characters. Passphrases tend to be easier to remember, longer and more secure than most user-generated passwords. However, weak passphrases are still susceptible to password-related cyber attacks.

Password entropy is a measurement of how difficult it would be for a cybercriminal to crack or successfully guess your password. When calculating password entropy, the calculation takes into account how long your password is and the variation of characters you’re using. Character variations include the use of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Continue reading to learn more about the importance of password entropy and how you can calculate it using the password entropy formula.

Password spraying and credential stuffing have a lot in common, but the main difference is in the way the attack is executed. With credential stuffing, the cybercriminal already has a set of verified login credentials, whereas, with password spraying, the cybercriminal has to guess the login credentials by matching a list of usernames with a commonly used password.

A secret refers to the non-human privileged credentials used by systems and applications to access services and IT resources containing highly sensitive information and privileged systems. Secrets allow applications to transmit data and request services from each other. Examples of secrets include access tokens, SSH keys, non-human privileged account credentials, cryptographic keys and API keys.

Weak passwords can lead to ransomware attacks because they can be easily compromised through password-cracking techniques, allowing cybercriminals to gain access to an organization’s network where they can then inject ransomware. Often, when people think of the causes of ransomware infections, their first thought is it was caused by a phishing email.

Some of the most common ways ransomware is delivered are through phishing emails, drive-by downloads, exploit kits and RDP exploits. According to Malwarebytes’ 2024 State of Malware report, in 2023 the number of known ransomware attacks increased by 68% from the previous year. The report also found that the largest ransom demanded in 2023 was $80 million.

Biometrics are technically safer than passwords because they’re harder for cybercriminals to compromise or steal. Besides being more secure, biometrics are also phishing-resistant and more convenient to use than passwords. Read on to learn more about biometrics and why they’re considered to be more secure than passwords.

Cybercriminals often use spoofing attacks to disguise themselves as a familiar face or legitimate business to trick people into revealing sensitive information. They use a variety of techniques such as creating fake websites or emails. Some of the different types of spoofing attacks include call spoofing, email spoofing, website spoofing and IP spoofing. Continue reading to learn more about spoofing attacks, the seven common types of spoofing attacks and how to stay protected from them.

Passphrases are another way to create secure passwords. However, there are some differences between passphrases and passwords in terms of their structure, memorability and security. Passphrases tend to be longer, easier to remember and overall more secure than most user-created passwords. However, a strong, randomly generated password is equally secure as a strong passphrase. Continue reading to learn more about passphrases and passwords, the key differences between them and which is better to use.

Password rotation has become less necessary for personal accounts if they are protected with strong and unique passwords and MFA. Organizations do need to implement password rotation to protect privileged accounts; however, manually rotating passwords can lead to security risks such as compromised passwords. Organizations need automated password rotation to protect privileged accounts from becoming compromised by weak or compromised passwords.