What Is A Credential Stuffing Attack & How To Protect Your Organization

Brought to you by Gilad David Maayan 

What Is Credential Stuffing?

Credential stuffing is a type of cyber attack in which attackers use stolen or leaked username-password combinations from one website or service to gain unauthorized access to other websites or services where the same credentials might have been reused.

This attack relies on the fact that many people use the same usernames and passwords across multiple accounts.

How Does a Credential Stuffing Attack Work?

Here's a step-by-step overview of how a typical credential stuffing attack works:

Obtaining credentials: Attackers first acquire a large number of username-password combinations from various sources, such as data breaches, leaks, phishing attacks, or other means. These credentials are often traded or sold on the dark web or hacking forums.

Preparing for the attack:   Attackers typically use automated tools or bots to streamline the process of testing the stolen credentials on multiple websites or services. They may also create custom scripts to target specific platforms or websites.

Launching the attack:   Using automated tools, the attackers attempt to log in to various websites or services with the stolen credentials. This process is typically performed at a high volume and speed to increase the chances of finding a match.

Identifying successful logins:   When a successful login is achieved, the attackers gain unauthorized access to the user's account. This access can be used for various malicious purposes, such as stealing personal information, conducting financial transactions, or compromising other accounts linked to the targeted account.

Exploiting the compromised account:    Once an account is compromised, the attackers may sell the account access to other criminals, use it for further attacks, or harvest sensitive information for identity theft or other fraudulent activities.

How to Defend Against Credential Stuffing

Defending against credential stuffing attacks requires a multi-layered approach that combines various security measures to minimize the risk of unauthorized account access. Here are some effective strategies:

Implement Behavioral Analytics

Behavioral analytics involves monitoring and analyzing user behavior patterns to identify suspicious activity that may indicate a credential stuffing attack. This can include tracking login attempts, location data, IP addresses, and device information. 

By identifying deviations from normal user behavior, security systems can flag potentially malicious login attempts and take appropriate action, such as requiring additional verification or blocking the attempt altogether.

Avoid Using Email Addresses as User IDs

Using an email address as a user ID can make it easier for attackers to target accounts, as email addresses are often easier to obtain and more likely to be reused across multiple accounts. Instead, encourage users to create unique, non-email-based user IDs to reduce the likelihood of attackers guessing the correct credentials.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA is a security measure that requires users to provide two or more forms of identification to access an account. This can include: 

• Something the user knows (password).
• Something the user has (a physical token or a mobile device).
• Something the user is (biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial recognition). 

By requiring additional verification steps, MFA makes it much more difficult for attackers to gain unauthorized access to accounts, even if they have the correct username and password.

Rate-Limit Non-Residential Traffic Sources

Rate limiting involves restricting the number of login attempts allowed from a specific IP address or range within a given time frame. By rate-limiting non-residential traffic sources, organizations can limit the number of login attempts made by bots or automated tools used in credential stuffing attacks. This can help prevent large-scale automated attacks while still allowing legitimate users to access their accounts.

Use a Managed Security Operations Center (SOC)

If your organization doesn’t have its own security operations center (SOC) - a centralized facility responsible for monitoring, detecting, analyzing, and responding to cybersecurity incidents - there are now multiple options to outsource this functionality to external providers. Managed SOC services such as managed detection and response (MDR) play a crucial role in protecting against many types of cyberattacks, including credential stuffing.

A managed SOC can help protect against credential stuffing by providing these capabilities:

Threat intelligence:   SOCs gather and analyze threat intelligence from various sources, such as security feeds, research reports, and industry collaborations. This intelligence helps identify new credential stuffing attack patterns, tools, and known threat actors, enabling the SOC to proactively adapt security measures to mitigate potential attacks.

Monitoring and detection:   A SOC continuously monitors network traffic, logs, and user behavior to detect signs of credential stuffing attacks. By using advanced analytics, correlation rules, and machine learning techniques, the SOC can identify anomalies or patterns indicative of credential stuffing, such as a high rate of failed login attempts or multiple login attempts from different geographical locations.

Incident response:   When a potential credential stuffing attack is detected, the SOC quickly initiates a response to contain and mitigate the attack. This may involve blocking IP addresses associated with the attack, disabling affected user accounts, or implementing additional security measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA).

MITRE ATT&CK

MITRE ATT&CK (Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge) is a globally accessible knowledge base of cyber adversary behavior and tactics, detailing the different stages of a cyberattack from initial system access to data exfiltration. 

While MITRE ATT&CK does not directly protect against credential stuffing attacks, it provides valuable information and context that organizations can use to better understand, detect, and defend against such attacks.

By leveraging the knowledge base provided by MITRE ATT&CK, organizations can improve their overall security posture and increase their resilience against credential stuffing and other cyber threats.

Conclusion

In conclusion, credential stuffing attacks pose a significant threat to both individuals and organizations, as they exploit the widespread tendency to reuse usernames and passwords across multiple accounts. By gaining unauthorized access to accounts, attackers can steal sensitive data, perform fraudulent transactions, or compromise other linked accounts. 

To protect your organization against these attacks, it is crucial to implement a multi-layered security approach that includes behavioral analytics, unique user IDs, MFA, and rate-limiting. By staying vigilant and adopting the latest security best practices, organizations can effectively minimize the potential impact of these attacks and secure their valuable assets.

Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer producing thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. 

Image: freepik

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