Password Spraying: What It Is and How To Prevent It

What is a password spraying attack?

A password spraying attack is a type of brute force attack where the hacker attempts to access various accounts simultaneously by using commonly used passwords, such as ‘12345′. Unlike other password cracking techniques, password spraying is a stealthier approach, making it harder to detect.

How does password spraying work?

Understanding the mechanics of password spraying is the first step in building defenses against this cyberattack method. In general, the process involves several key stages:

1. Target selection: Malicious actors identify their targets based on various criteria, such as organizational affiliation, user roles, or specific individuals. This careful selection allows attackers to focus their efforts on vulnerable accounts, increasing the likelihood of success.
2. Reconnaissance: Before launching a password spraying attack, cybercriminals often conduct a reconnaissance to gather information about their targets. This phase may involve exploring social media profiles, analyzing publicly available data, or leveraging previous data breaches to compile lists of potential usernames associated with the target.
3. Password list creation: Relying on a more strategic approach, attackers use the gathered information to create a list of commonly used passwords. These passwords are chosen to maximize the probability of success while remaining inconspicuous to avoid triggering account lockouts.
4. Attack execution: With the target list and password combinations in hand, attackers systematically attempt to log into multiple user accounts.
5. Account lockout avoidance: To bypass account lockout mechanisms implemented by organizations and platforms, attackers consistently space out their login attempts. This prevents triggering automated lockouts, allowing them to continue their password spraying campaign undetected.

Password spraying vs brute force attack

Navigating the world of password threats can be like decoding complicated puzzles. When it comes to differentiating between password spraying and brute force attacks, we can say that the former is more basic when it comes to the tactic itself, following a more low-key and specific password combination rule.

Meanwhile, brute force attacks take the direct route, attempting every conceivable password combination for one specific account using a trial-and-error approach. While brute force attacks might make more noise due to this exhaustive nature, password spraying aims to be the stealthy cat burglar, flying under the radar with a targeted and focused strategy.

Password spraying vs dictionary attacks

Think of password spraying and dictionary attacks as two different scripts in the cybercrime playbook. While password spraying focuses on subtle tactics, spacing out login attempts that won’t raise eyebrows and using common weak passwords, dictionary attacks use each word within a ‘dictionary list’ of common words used by businesses and individuals.

Password spraying vs credential stuffing

Credential stuffing relies on previously leaked username-password pairs to attempt known combinations across different accounts. While effective, this method risks a spotlight moment due to its use of compromised credentials, whereas password spraying aims to be smooth and inconspicuous.

Risks and consequences of password spraying attacks

The consequences of a successful password spraying attack can be catastrophic. For both individuals and businesses, being a victim of this cyberattack can lead to significant risks and implications.

Risks for individuals

Everyone is at risk of a data breach caused by password spraying, which can expose personal information such as emails, private messages, and other sensitive information. The consequences of these breaches expand beyond privacy evasion, leaving individuals vulnerable to identity theft and misuse of personal data.

Moreover, this attack opens the gateway to unauthorized access of accounts, compromising individual platforms. This not only threatens emails and social media profiles but also extends to financial accounts, which can result in big financial losses for the individual.

Organizations at risk

Organizations are also vulnerable to data breaches. Risking the confidentiality of sensitive corporate information, customer data, and intellectual property, these attacks can undermine everything that protects a company’s reputation. In turn, this erodes trust among customers, partners, and stakeholders, impacting the organization’s standing in the community.

Beyond data breaches, the aftermath of a successful password spraying attack also carries financial and legal implications. Costs associated with investigating and mitigating the breach, compensating affected parties, and implementing heightened security measures can inflict significant financial strain.

Signs that you’ve fallen victim to a password spraying attack

There are several signs indicating that a password spraying attack is targeting you or your company. Here are some of the red flags you should notice right away:

1. Unusual login patterns: keep an eye on login patterns that deviate from the norm. Hackers attempt to access multiple accounts with a small set of passwords. Look for login attempts at unusual times or from unfamiliar locations.
2. Multiple failed login attempts from the same IP: A telltale sign of password spraying is an influx of failed login attempts from a single IP address.
3. Suspicious activities: Password spraying attempts may be evident through a surge of login events, especially if they occur across multiple accounts, so it’s important to regularly review activity logs.
4. Unusual geographic access: Since hackers may use proxies or VPN services, there are often login attempts from unexpected locations. Monitoring this can help identify suspicious activity.
5. Rate-limited authentication failures: Many systems implement rate-limiting mechanisms to mitigate password attacks. If there’s a sudden increase in authentication failures, it could signal an attempt to guess passwords systematically.
6. User account lockouts: Password spraying attacks often involve a large number of login attempts, which may lead to user account lockouts if the targeted system has such mechanisms in place.

Preventing password spraying attacks

As the threat of password spraying looms, individuals and organizations have various options to prevent these attacks from being successful.

For individuals

The very first step is to use strong, complex, and random passwords containing capital and uppercase letters, special characters, and digits. Each account must have its own password, as duplicates can create a domino effect if a single hacking attempt is successful.

It’s also important to change your password regularly, minimizing your window of vulnerability. Password managers can help, as most of them issue alerts when passwords need to be updated.

Implementing multi-factor authentication can also add an extra layer of security to your accounts. By combining it with a password manager, even if passwords end up being compromised, the need for a secondary authentication factor significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

Another way to keep safe online is to configure account lockout policies after a limited number of consecutive failed login attempts. This helps thwart password spraying attempts by temporarily locking out accounts after a predefined number of unsuccessful tries.

For organizations

For companies, the best solution is enforcing strong password policies. Establishing policies that require team members to use complex passwords and update them frequently can enhance overall data security.

In addition to the same relevant methods we covered in the individual section, having an IT team or an SIEM solution identify log patterns from multiple sources is also a great way to keep information safe inside the company. Doing so makes it possible to effectively detect and block any type of password spraying attempt.

The life savers called password managers

Creating complex, random, and lengthy passwords sounds excellent, but how can someone remember so many different passwords that have no logic whatsoever? Leaving it to more traditional methods such as storing passwords on a spreadsheet is simply not a safe solution anymore.

Thankfully, password managers are the best answer for managing and securing all your passwords. Providing a safe space your credentials, bank information, and other data in one centralized place, companies such as Keeper offer end-to-end encryption and zero-knowledge structures. This means that no one besides you is able to get a glimpse of your personal information.

Better yet, Keeper also comes with a password generator that creates strong and random passwords that are automatically saved to your desired vault. The convenience of auto-fill and auto-save, alongside alerts warning you of potential data breaches, means that the responsibility of keeping accounts safe is no longer on your shoulders.

Password spraying 101

There’s no question that the internet has changed our lives for the better. However, we should always bear in mind that malevolent individuals are everywhere, including online. The consequences of password spraying loom large, posing threats to both individuals and organizations alike.

The potential outcomes, such as data breaches, unauthorized access, financial loss, and reputational damage underscore the critical need for heightened cybersecurity awareness.

So, the key to combating hackers lies in proactive security measures – waiting until an attack occurs is not an option. Regularly updating passwords, enforcing strong password policies, and implementing multi-factor authentication, are all pivotal steps.

Thankfully, a trustworthy password manager, such as Keeper, does all this for you. It provides a centralized and reliable platform that allows you to update passwords, store them, and even monitor breaches.

Besides that, Keeper can be tested completely for free for 30 days, and Best Reviews readers get a discount of up to 50% on selected plans, making it a budget-friendly option.

We must protect ourselves against password spraying tactics, and password managers act as a shield keeping you safe and secure at all times.