What Credential Stuffing Means and How to Avoid it

There are many types of attacks present when browsing the Internet. Many types of threats that can put our security and privacy at risk. Hackers constantly hone their techniques to achieve their goals. When we talk about security problems that threaten user data, this has a greater weight. We already know that today our information is of great value online. In this article we explain what Credential Stuffing means and what we can do to avoid it.

What is Credential Stuffing

credential stuffing

First, let’s explain what Credential Sutiffing means and how this type of security problem can affect us. Basically we can say that it is a type of attack that goes against our credentials and passwords when it comes to registering on Internet sites and logging in. This is something that has great value for cyber criminals.

There are many threats that aim to steal our data. They can be attacks related to the theft of passwords and credentials, stealing information from our browsing history, etc. With our data, with all the information they obtain, they could include us in spam lists, send us targeted advertising or even sell it to third parties.

Now, when we talk about Credential Stuffing we are referring to a type of threat that seeks to steal our credentials and passwords by mainly taking advantage of vulnerabilities in databases. Hackers exploit databases where our credentials and passwords are stored.

On many occasions these stolen databases are sold on the Dark Web. Logically, this directly attacks the privacy of users. We can find there a large number of stolen accounts, with their credentials and passwords, for very varied services such as social networks, bank accounts, online stores …

This occurs when a specific platform has a security problem . Let’s say we are registered on Facebook and the platform has a security breach and thousands of accounts are exposed. Hackers could exploit that vulnerability to steal those passwords and credentials. That is what is called Credential Stuffing.

However a very common problem is the reuse of passwords. This means that if we have an account on a service that has a vulnerability, it could affect other accounts on other platforms. A domino effect would occur.

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How to avoid Credential Stuffing

Can we do something to avoid falling victim to Credential Stuffing? As we have mentioned, it is mainly about database leaks from the platforms themselves. However, yes, it is in our hands to avoid or at least reduce the impact of this problem.

One of the most important steps we can take is to use unique passwords for each service. In this way we will achieve that if a specific account has been affected by a security breach, that problem does not affect the rest of the services and platforms that we use on the network. It is basic and what we should do.

It is also very important to enable two-step authentication whenever possible. In this way, if someone achieves our password for any reason, they could not access our account without that second step. We would create a very important extra security barrier to avoid this problem. Luckily, more and more platforms have this possibility.

Another important issue is to be alert to possible password leaks and security breaches on the different platforms we use. So we can quickly change the password if we are aware that there has been a leak. In any case, it is highly advisable to periodically change the passwords to avoid problems. This will increase security and prevent possible intruders on our accounts.

In short, Credential Stuffing is a security problem that directly affects our accounts on the Internet. Luckily we can take into account certain tips that we have mentioned to improve security and avoid related problems.