Mask attacks are a targeted brute-force technique used by bad actors to crack passwords. Traditional brute-force attacks systematically try every possible combination of letters, numbers, and symbols to guess a target password. With mask attacks, the goal is to... Read More
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Microsoft adds phishing protection to Windows 11
With the recent release of Windows 11 version 22H2, Microsoft has introduced some new capabilities that are designed to protect users against phishing attacks. These phishing protection features are designed to prevent users from making some of the mistakes... Read More
How to block common patterns in Active Directory passwords
Between work and personal accounts, the average person may have dozens of passwords to remember. Strong password hygiene indicates a unique password for each account, but when users have so many passwords to remember, they come up with a... Read More
New in Specops Password Policy 7.7 – Improved Password Expiry Emails and More
Today we’ve released the latest update to our Active Directory password management solution, Specops Password Policy 7.7. This release includes improved intervals for password expiration reminder emails, as well as new functionality for sending test emails and selecting specific... Read More
Default account lockout policies in Windows 11
Windows 11 is the newest and generally most secure operating system in the Windows family. In the newest iteration of Windows, there are default account lockout policies that exist to mitigate RDP and other brute force password vectors. Why... Read More
Keeping Football on the Pitch and Out of Passwords this World Cup
The Messi versus Ronaldo debate returns, but this time it’s not about who is the best footballer but about which name has appeared the most within Specops’ Breached Password Protection list. With the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar... Read More
[New Data] Attackers Are Using These Passwords to Attack the RDP Port Right Now
The Specops Breached Password Protection List Tops 3 Billion Unique Compromised Passwords from Live Attack Data and Leaked Lists Today, the Specops Software research team is sharing the results of our analysis on what passwords are being used to... Read More
Service account password rotation
Service accounts are the unseen heroes of your organization’s architecture – they keep critical services running. While most organizations are generally aware of the sensitive nature of service accounts, password practices can still be poor. It is not uncommon... Read More
New Compliance Standards & More: See What’s New in Specops Password Auditor
Today, we’ve released the latest Specops Password Auditor — a read-only program that can help IT admins identify password vulnerabilities including number of accounts with compromised passwords and more. In this release, we’ve introduced a big update to our... Read More
School start reminds everyone to stop reusing passwords
Paper, pen, and school itself are the most common school-related words found among breached passwords, according to our latest research. To celebrate the end of summer and the start of another school year, Specops’ researchers analyzed more than 800... Read More