Marcus White

Deployment

Security

Technical

Marcus is a Specops cybersecurity specialist based in the UK, with 8+ years experience in the tech and cyber sectors. He writes about authentication, password security, password management, and compliance.

Articles written by Marcus White

Jun

30

Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack guide & defense tips

Imagine you’re overseeing your organization’s network security when suddenly you notice an unusual traffic pattern: packets flowing through a server that shouldn’t be there. What you’re witnessing could be a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack in action, where an adversary stealthily intercepts…
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Jun

24

[Analysis] 16 billion passwords leaked – how much is recycled data?

Researchers recently uncovered a (seemingly) unprecedented aggregation of roughly 16 billion username–password pairs. However, there’s been some debate around how much of this is recycled data versus new. Similarly to the Rockyou2024 password list and ALIENTXTBASE data dump, our own…
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Jun

11

Securing the service desk: Interview with an OffSec expert

Securing the service desk has become a priority for many organizations, especially after the spate of social engineering attacks in the UK linked to Scattered Spider. Attackers know the service desk can be an easy way to bypass MFA and…
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Jun

05

SIM-swap fraud: Scam prevention guide

SIM-swapping is quickly becoming a favorite form of attack for cybercriminals. According to the National Fraud Database, SIM-swap fraud jumped by over 1,000% in 2024. Hackers port a victim’s number onto a rogue SIM, so they can intercept SMS-based two-factor…
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May

13

[New research] FTP ports under attack: Which passwords are hackers using?

The Specops research team has analyzed passwords being used to attack FTP ports over the past 30 days, in live attacks happening against real networks. Our team have found the most common passwords being used in brute force attacks, as…
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May

09

DragonForce: Inside the Ransomware-as-a-Service group

The popularity of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has exploded over the past decade. The benefits for organizations are obvious – SaaS is scalable, cost-effective, and doesn’t need complex installation or maintenance. Gartner expects global spending on SaaS to reach $3 billion in…
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May

07

Scattered Spider service desk attacks: How to defend your organization

Scattered Spider is a disparate hacking collective that has surged to prominence by using sophisticated social engineering tactics. One of their key tactics is exploiting people – specifically, corporate service desks. They’ve recently hit the headlines by allegedly duping an…
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Apr

30

M&S ransomware hack: Active Directory & Service Desk security lessons

M&S (Marks and Spencers) are a cornerstone of British retail with over 64,000 employees – so it was a shock for many to see them laid low by a ransomware attack in April 2025. The retail giant fell victim to…
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Apr

29

Could the Spain and Portugal blackout have been a cyber-attack?

‘Cyber-attack’ was the phrase on many people’s minds when large parts of Spain and Portugal were recently plunged into a blackout. Authorities are investigating the root cause, with early reports suggesting a technical malfunction caused by a ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’.…
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Apr

28

Passkeys: Benefits, limitations, and will they replace passwords?

Major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are actively supporting passkeys, and many popular websites and apps are beginning to adopt them. According to the FIDO Alliance, more than one billion people worldwide have now created at least one…
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