Why Passwords Are No Longer Enough: Keep Your Information Secure with WatchGuard AuthPoint

Even if you think your passwords are strong, that doesn’t necessarily stop hackers from accessing your accounts and information. Cyber hackers often purchase passwords from the dark web. Shockingly enough, this can be done just as easily as making a purchase from Amazon. To put things in perspective, the average price for purchasing a password is ~$160 US, whereas the average price of a person’s internet identity is ~$1200 US. If your IP address, financials, customer information, employee information, or anything else in your network is worth more than $1,200, then it’s a good indication that you are susceptible to cyber hackers purchasing your credentials. There are billions of credentials available on the dark web, the chances are that your login information could be purchased within seconds.

An alternative to purchasing passwords is simply hacking them. Considering the statistics mentioned above, it typically doesn’t take long for hackers to crack your password. Hackers have password-guessing tools and technologies that have become exponentially more sophisticated and automated. Furthermore, passwords are only one line of defence. Once hackers have solved your password, it doesn’t take long for them to gain access to the entire network. When a hacker reaches a company’s network, they have the ability to cause extreme harm. Typically, hackers spread malware and steal, delete, or modify valuable information.

Common Password Hacking Techniques:

• Dictionary Attacks: Hackers try to guess passwords by typing in common words from a password dictionary 
• Brute Force Attacks: Hackers use a tool to repeatedly try every type of password combination of numbers, letters, symbols, and characters possible
• Rainbow attack: Hackers use a resource table called a “rainbow table” that contains scrambled up passwords stored in system databases
• Credential stuffing attack: Hackers have a way to automatically run database lists of the breached username and password combinations against their target website. (This is why it’s important to use different variations of usernames and passwords across different accounts).
• Social engineering: This involves manipulating people/systems into providing their credentials (phishing, trojan horse, shoulder surfing attacks).

A proven solution to defending against cyber attacks is the use of multi-factor authentication. WatchGuard AuthPoint offers a method of verification that adds a security layer to logins beyond just a simple username and password. Even if passwords become compromised, it ensures hackers cannot gain access to your system since there is another layer of security. 

How it works:

• With AuthPoint, protection is easy. Users approve or deny logins with a single touch on the AuthPoint mobile app. Once they’ve logged in, users can enjoy single sign-on (SSO) across key accounts. 
• Since approvals are all done through the user’s mobile app, there aren’t additional tokens to carry. It’s easy! 
• AuthPoint is based entirely in the Cloud, meaning there is no expensive hardware to deploy and no software to update. It can also be managed from anywhere and, since it’s so easy to deploy and manage, it doesn’t require an in-house security expert to get started. 
• AuthPoint functions both online and offline, meaning users can securely log in even if accessing their account from an airplane. By using QR code-based authentication, users can log in anywhere, at any time. This is perfect for people who travel for work.