Compromised credentials, such as usernames and passwords, are a significant security risk for organizations. Cybercriminals can use compromised credentials to break into accounts and systems, steal further data, or commit fraud.
This can leave your organization at risk of financial losses, operational disruption, reputational damage, or regulatory sanctions.
Detecting credentials that may have been exposed due to data breaches or leakages is vital. Taking a proactive approach allows you to find and fix potential vulnerabilities before cybercriminals can exploit them.
This can protect you against risks such as financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory fines or sanctions.
How credential monitoring works
Credential monitoring solutions providers, such as Cybercheck, can deliver a powerful source of support in protecting organizations. By infiltrating criminal networks, Cybercheck’s analysts gain knowledge of breaches and recover data leaks to detect compromised credentials, and alert you immediately.
You can then ensure your cybersecurity policy includes steps to invalidate compromised credentials to diffuse a threat. For example, by prompting the changing of passwords associated with compromised identity records.
Credential monitoring also helps you strengthen your organization’s overall security by highlighting risky practices. For example:
- Credential reuse: This is where a single logon or password is shared between systems or users, putting multiple accounts at risk.
- Using similar passwords: When they update their passwords, users often keep the same word but change one letter or add a number or symbol to make it different. This is dangerous. If cybercriminals steal the password, they can easily guess these changes. The best practice is to choose a completely different password each time and never go back to one you’ve used before.
Credential monitoring helps you to spot the reuse of identical or similar passwords so you can ensure all credentials and passwords are unique.
However, monitoring isn’t without its challenges.
Avoiding false alarms
Monitoring tools sometimes trigger false alarms by highlighting credentials that aren’t compromised. To minimize these instances, it’s important to ensure your monitoring systems align accurately with the credentials within organizational domains and related devices.
Developing an overall security strategy
Credential monitoring is most effective when integrated into an overall security strategy and the policy frameworks. That means implementing other best practices such as:
- Enforcing strong password policies and enabling multi-factor authentication across your systems.
- Using password generators to create passwords. Password generators are often built into password manager tools. They allow users to create complex and unique safe passwords automatically across your organization.
- Providing security education and training for all your employees.
- Creating a security awareness culture where everyone understands their role in keeping your organization safe.
Protect yourself and your organization with Cybercheck
We constantly monitor the places on the open-, deep- and dark web where cybercriminals buy and sell stolen data. If cybercriminals are trading information about you or your organization, we alert you right away so you can take immediate action.
