We marked our calendars, counting down the months, days, and minutes. Now, the day we’ve all been waiting for is here: the 60th anniversary of the computer password! Since its beginning in an MIT lab in the fall of... Read More
News
NYDFS cybersecurity regulation requirements
Financial organizations house a myriad of sensitive customer data, including login credentials, personally identifiable information (PII), and account numbers. With valuable data at stake, the financial services industry repeatedly has the highest cost of cybercrime. As the threat of breaches looms across the industry, and remote work introduces more variables into the cybersecurity equation, it’s clear that... Read More
FFIEC password requirements
Cyberattacks often target the financial industry due to the nature of the information they possess. One of the organizations that provide cybersecurity guidance and standards for financial institutions is the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). While the FFIEC does not offer specific password characteristics... Read More
Block These Recently Leaked VPN Passwords to Prevent Ransomware Attacks [new data]
Worried about ransomware attacks? Recent attack news indicates you should be looking to secure your VPN connections. Last week, we learned that thousands of Fortinet VPN passwords had been leaked on the dark web by a former ransomware operator.... Read More
Division 1 College Football Teams and Mascots Keep Showing Up on Breached Password Lists
The Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech may not have earned a single vote in the AP’s preseason college football Top 25 rankings, but when it comes to appearing on breached password lists, the prestigious university ranks #1. In conjunction with the... Read More
Defending Your Network from RockYou2021
In June 2021, a large data dump was posted to a popular internet hacking forum. This dataset was termed “rockyou2021,” named after the popular password brute-force wordlist known as Rockyou.txt. Media and Twitter alike were abuzz with what to... Read More
Premier League Clubs May Want to Be Relegated from This Breached Password List
Chelsea, one of England’s most successful football clubs, can add another trophy to their record today, as they rank in first place on Specops’ breached password list. This is according to our new research, ahead of the start of the Premier League 2021 season,... Read More
Introducing Live Attack Data to Specops Breached Password Protection (plus what passwords you should block right now)
Today, Specops Software released the latest update to its Breached Password Protection list. This release includes, most notably, the addition of passwords observed in real attacks. Prior to this release, Specops Breached Password Protection sources included lists of known... Read More
Pipeline Cybersecurity Initiative best practices
There is no question that ransomware attacks are on the rise. They present what is arguably the most dangerous risk to businesses today when looking at the cybersecurity threat landscape. Recently, a ransomware attack impacted the Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest fuel... Read More
Service account security best practices
There are number of privileges and roles granted to Windows users. However, it’s often necessary to restrict roles to specialized accounts called service accounts. These Active Directory (AD) accounts have deeper access to OS infrastructure, making them both handier and higher-priority... Read More