Understanding Password Stuffing and How to Protect Yourself from It

In the whirlwind of cyber security news and information, it’s easy to get lost or misinformed about certain topics. At some point, we all have been guilty of assuming something is common knowledge when, in fact, not everyone knows that piece of information. Password stuffing falls into this bucket.

It’s a topic that has received a lot of attention lately. But many people still don’t understand what it is, how it works, or how to protect themselves. In this article, we will explore password stuffing and how you can protect yourself against it if you use a password management tool such as PassCamp.

What is Password Stuffing?

In this attack, the attackers use computer software to scan the internet for data breaches and hack sites to find usernames and passwords. They then use that information to try to log in to other accounts by using those stolen credentials.

While you may think that hackers only use your information to access your online accounts, password stuffing can result in the attackers telephonically calling you and impersonating you to access things like your bank account, utilities, or even your work computer.

This differs from password cracking because password cracking is one-to-one, meaning the attacker tries combinations of usernames and passwords until they find a match.

Password stuffing is one-to-many, meaning the attackers use software to scan many accounts at once. Because of this, it’s much more effective at finding insecure accounts where the password hasn’t been changed since the breach.

How Does Password Stuffing Work?

As mentioned above, password stuffing is one-to-many. In other words, it scans many accounts at once.

This can happen in a few different ways, but let’s take a look at three of the most popular ones:

1. The first and most common way is through brute force. Brute-forcing is when an attacker enters a long list of possible passwords one after the other until they find a match.
2. The second method is called credential stuffing. The attacker uses a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution to try common usernames and passwords across many services.
3. The third method is via an online password-checking tool. These online password-checking tools are designed to check if your account is secure by trying to log in to your account using your username and password. They’re usually provided by companies that are trying to increase their security. For example, A Google security checkup will ask you to enter your email and see if the account is secure or if any issues need to be resolved.

3 Tips to Protect Yourself from Password Stuffing

As you can see, password stuffing is a very real threat. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from it and help prevent successful password-stuffing attacks:

• First, you should update your passwords often. The recommended frequency is every 4-6 months. A good rule of thumb is that if you remember the password, change it!
• Next, use a password manager like PassCamp. A password manager allows you to securely store all your passwords so that you only have to remember one password. In addition to providing a single password to access all your accounts, password managers also have functionality that helps defend against password stuffing.
• Finally, you should use two-factor authentication (2FA). Some sites offer 2FA. When you log in, you have to enter a code that either shows up on your phone, is sent to you via text, or is generated on the site itself.

Password stuffing is a real threat that can affect anyone, regardless of how careful they are with their passwords.

While using strong and unique passwords, updating your passwords often, and using a password manager can help protect against password stuffing, there’s no way to avoid it completely.

However, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to be informed. By understanding what password stuffing is, how it works, and how to protect yourself, you can help protect yourself from this threat.