How to Prevent Brute Force Attacks?

How to Prevent Brute Force Attacks, Brute force attacks stand out as a significant issue in the cybersecurity world. These attacks are methods used to target computer systems with the aim of guessing passwords or gaining unauthorized access.

What is Brute Force?

This type of attack involves hackers using trial and error until they find the correct data. For example, they attempt to access a system by guessing passwords using all possible combinations. Hence, it’s called a “brute force” attack.

Despite being an old method, brute force attacks are still effective and popular among hackers. Depending on the length and complexity of the password, it can take from seconds to years to crack it. Therefore, being cautious and using strong passwords is important.

How Does a Brute Force Attack Work?

It’s a cyberattack where a hacker attempts to access a specific system by guessing information like usernames and passwords. The hacker uses trial and error until they correctly guess the credentials required to gain unauthorized access to user accounts or corporate networks.

Hackers typically rely on technology and software to initiate brute force attacks. Some common brute force attack tools include:

• Password cracking applications
• Password recovery tool
• Wi-Fi network security assessment tools like Aircrack-ng

Why Are Brute Force Attacks So Dangerous?

1. Time and Resource Consumption: Brute force attacks require a significant amount of time and resources to try millions or even billions of possible combinations. However, as the power of modern computers and software increases, these attacks become more effective.
2. Exploitation of Security Vulnerabilities: Brute force attacks can exploit weaknesses in weak encryption algorithms or poorly configured authentication systems. Hence, they are commonly used to gain access to vulnerable systems.
3. Privacy Breach and Data Leakage: A successful brute force attack can grant access to sensitive information, leading to the exposure of personal data, financial information, or trade secrets, resulting in serious privacy breaches and data leaks.
4. Lack of User Oversight: Since brute force attacks are automated, users or system administrators may not immediately notice them. This allows attackers to keep their activities on the system secret for extended periods.
5. Wide-ranging Impact: A brute force attack not only damages the target system directly but can also affect other systems and services connected to it. For example, a password cracking attack can disrupt a server’s functionality or cause service interruptions.

For these reasons, brute force attacks can pose a serious threat and carry significant risks to information security. It’s important to implement measures such as strong encryption algorithms, multi-factor authentication, and security firewalls to defend against these attacks.

Why Do Cybercriminals Use Brute Force Attacks?

Ease of Use: Brute force attacks are a basic and generally effective method of attack. Attackers can quickly try millions of password combinations using automated tools. This allows individuals with little technical knowledge to carry out such attacks.

Access to Sensitive Information: Cybercriminals attempt to gain access to target systems through brute force attacks to obtain personal data, financial information, or trade secrets. This information can be valuable to hackers and can be used or sold through various channels.

Financial Gain: Brute force attacks serve as a tool for cybercriminals to achieve financial gain. For example, by gaining access to systems infected with ransomware, hackers can demand ransom payments. Additionally, they may find opportunities to sell or utilize the acquired information in illicit markets.

Inflicting Damage on Organizations and Tarnishing Their Reputation: Some hackers may use brute force attacks to harm organizations or tarnish their reputation. These attacks can be planned to disrupt the functionality of target organizations’ systems or services. Moreover, hackers may add malicious content to websites or spread false information to damage the organization’s reputation.

Types of Brute Force Attacks

• Dictionary Attacks: In this type of attack, hackers guess passwords using a pre-prepared dictionary or word list. This list typically contains commonly used passwords, words, or number combinations. Attackers attempt to gain access to the system using this dictionary.
• Hybrid Attacks: Hybrid attacks are similar to dictionary attacks, but attackers expand password combinations by adding numbers, symbols, or other characters to predefined word lists.
• Reverse Brute Force Attacks: This attack type involves using passwords leaked in previous data breaches. Attackers attempt to access target systems using these leaked passwords and usernames.
• Credential Stuffing: In this attack type, attackers target users who use the same passwords for multiple accounts. Among these users, there may be many, and attackers attempt to access different accounts by trying this information on other systems.
• Simple Brute Force Attacks: This method exploits weak passwords or poor password hygiene. Attackers manually guess login credentials, often supported by other information leaks or social engineering techniques.
• Password Spraying: Password spraying is used to bypass lockout policies or target multi-factor authentication systems. Attackers attempt to access different accounts using a common password, aiming to gain access to multiple platforms.
• Botnets: In this attack type, cybercriminals utilize the processing power of numerous computers to carry out large-scale brute force attacks. These computers are under the control of attackers, who use them to execute powerful brute force attacks.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Brute Force Attacks

Advantages

• Ease of Use: Brute force attacks can generally be carried out using automated tools or software, allowing attackers to initiate attacks without requiring technical expertise.
• Universal Applicability: Brute force attacks can be applied against any encryption or password system, enabling attackers to target a wide range of objectives.

Disadvantages

• Slowness: Brute force attacks can take a significant amount of time to try every possible character combination. This time can be especially prolonged for long and complex passwords.
• Increased Complexity: As the number of characters in a password increases, the likelihood and time for brute force attacks to succeed significantly increase. For example, cracking a four-character password may be faster than a three-character password, but this time will be even longer for a five-character password.
• Realism Limits: After a certain point, brute force attacks become unrealistic. This is because as the length of the password increases, the number of possible combinations can reach astronomical levels, increasing the probability of the attack failing.

Brute Force Attack Examples Since the ultimate goal of brute force attacks is to steal data or disrupt service delivery, these attacks have become a significant threat to a business’s security posture.

Here are some recent significant examples of brute force attacks:

• In 2013, GitHub fell victim to a brute force attack where several securely stored passwords were compromised. It was found that brute force login attempts were made from approximately 40,000 unique IP addresses.
• Club Nintendo was targeted by a brute force attack in 2013, affecting 25,000 forum members.
• Hackers made 15 million brute force attempts to compromise user accounts. In 2016, Alibaba TaoBao experienced a brute force attack that led to the compromise of 21 million user accounts.
• Hackers utilized a database containing nearly 99 million usernames and passwords to brute force existing TaoBao user accounts.
• Mozilla Firefox’s master password feature was a victim of a brute force attack in 2018. Although the number of exposed user credentials is unknown, Firefox provided a fix for this issue in 2019.
• In 2018, Magento faced a brute force attack that jeopardized around 1,000 admin panels. Brute Force Attack Tools Brute force attacks are carried out with the assistance of automated tools that check user credentials until a successful match is found. Manual testing becomes difficult when there are numerous possible usernames and passwords. Consequently, hackers leverage automation to expedite the guessing process.

How to Detect Brute Force Attacks?

Hackers can execute brute force attacks in various ways. To defend against such attacks, you need to identify preventive measures and implement them.

Below are some indicators that may signal a brute force attack:

• Multiple failed login attempts from a single IP address.
• Login requests for a single user account from multiple IP addresses.
• Multiple login attempts with different usernames from the same IP address.
• Logging in with a URL that redirects from an email or IRC client.
• Suspicious single-use and bandwidth-consuming activity.
• Failed login attempts with alphabetical or sequential usernames or passwords.
• URLs directing to password-sharing sites.

Early detection and appropriate preventive measures can limit businesses’ exposure to brute force attacks. Conducting penetration testing can also help prevent brute force attacks.

To protect against brute force attacks, several measures can be taken, but one of the most effective methods to establish a security barrier and protect your WordPress site is to use a reliable plugin like Wp Safe Zone. Wp Safe Zone provides a security firewall that shields your site from potential threats and automatically detects and blocks brute force attacks. This plugin continually monitors your site and identifies attack attempts, taking automatic countermeasures. Thus, it enhances your site’s security, ensures uninterrupted operation of your business, and provides you peace of mind.