As safety professionals, it is easy to get caught up in a race to counter the newest superior adversary methods. But essentially the most impactful assaults typically aren’t from cutting-edge exploits, however from cracked credentials and compromised accounts. Regardless of widespread consciousness of this menace vector, Picus Safety’s Blue Report 2025 reveals that organizations proceed to battle with stopping password cracking assaults and detecting the malicious use of compromised accounts.
With the primary half of 2025 behind us, compromised legitimate accounts stay essentially the most underprevented assault vector, highlighting the pressing want for a proactive method targeted on the threats which are evading organizations’ defenses.
A Wake-Up Name: The Alarming Rise in Password Cracking Success
The Picus Blue Report is an annual analysis publication that analyzes how nicely organizations are stopping and detecting real-world cyber threats. Not like conventional reviews that focus solely on menace developments or survey knowledge, the Blue Report relies on empirical findings from over 160 million assault simulations carried out inside organizations’ networks all over the world, utilizing the Picus Safety Validation Platform.
Within the Blue Report 2025, Picus Labs discovered that password cracking makes an attempt succeeded in 46% of examined environments, practically doubling the success price from final 12 months. This sharp enhance highlights a elementary weak spot in how organizations are managing – or mismanaging – their password insurance policies. Weak passwords and outdated hashing algorithms proceed to go away vital methods weak to attackers utilizing brute-force or rainbow desk assaults to crack passwords and acquire unauthorized entry.
Provided that password cracking is without doubt one of the oldest and most reliably efficient assault strategies, this discovering factors to a critical subject: of their race to fight the newest, most subtle new breed of threats, many organizations are failing to implement robust fundamental password hygiene insurance policies whereas failing to undertake and combine fashionable authentication practices into their defenses.
Why Organizations Are Failing to Stop Password Cracking Assaults
So, why are organizations nonetheless failing to forestall password cracking assaults? The foundation trigger lies within the continued use of weak passwords and outdated credential storage strategies. Many organizations nonetheless depend on simply guessable passwords and weak hashing algorithms, typically with out utilizing correct salting methods or multi-factor authentication (MFA).
In reality, our survey outcomes confirmed that 46% of environments had no less than one password hash cracked and transformed to cleartext, highlighting the inadequacy of many password insurance policies, notably for inner accounts, the place controls are sometimes extra lax than they’re for his or her exterior counterparts.
To fight this, organizations should implement stronger password insurance policies, implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all customers, and repeatedly validate their credential defenses. With out these enhancements, attackers will proceed to compromise legitimate accounts, acquiring quick access to vital methods.
Credential-Primarily based Assaults: A Silent however Devastating Menace
The specter of credential abuse is each pervasive and harmful, but because the Blue Report 2025 highlights, organizations are nonetheless underprepared for this type of assault. And as soon as attackers receive legitimate credentials, they will simply transfer laterally, escalate privileges, and compromise vital methods.
Infostealers and ransomware teams ceaselessly depend on stolen credentials to unfold throughout networks, burrowing deeper and deeper, typically with out triggering detection. This stealthy motion throughout the community permits attackers to keep up lengthy dwell instances, undetected, whereas they exfiltrate knowledge at will.
Regardless of this ongoing and well-known subject, organizations proceed to prioritize perimeter defenses, typically leaving identification and credential safety ignored and under-funded consequently. This 12 months’s Blue Report clearly reveals that legitimate account abuse is on the core of recent cyberattacks, reinforcing the pressing want for a stronger give attention to identification safety and credential validation.
Legitimate Accounts (T1078): The Most Exploited Path to Compromise
One of many key findings within the Blue Report 2025 is that Legitimate Accounts (MITRE ATT&CK T1078) stays essentially the most exploited assault method, with a really regarding 98% success price. Which means as soon as attackers acquire entry to legitimate credentials, whether or not via password cracking or preliminary entry brokers, they will swiftly transfer via a corporation’s community, typically bypassing conventional defenses.
Using compromised credentials is especially efficient as a result of it permits attackers to function below the radar, making it more durable for safety groups to detect malicious exercise. As soon as inside, they will entry delicate knowledge, deploy malware, or create new assault paths, all whereas seamlessly mixing in with professional person exercise.
Tips on how to Strengthen Your Defenses Towards Credential Abuse and Password Cracking
To guard towards more and more efficient assaults, organizations ought to implement stronger password insurance policies and implement complexity necessities, whereas eliminating outdated hashing algorithms in favor of safer alternate options. It’s also important to undertake multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all delicate accounts, guaranteeing that even when credentials do turn out to be compromised, attackers cannot simply use them to entry the community with out a further verification step.
Usually validating credential defenses via simulated assaults is essential to figuring out vulnerabilities and guaranteeing that your controls are performing as anticipated. Organizations additionally want to boost their behavioral detection capabilities to catch anomalous actions tied to credential abuse and lateral motion.
Moreover, monitoring and inspecting outbound site visitors for indicators of information exfiltration and guaranteeing that knowledge loss prevention (DLP) measures are each in place and working successfully are vital to defending your delicate info.
Closing the Gaps in Credential and Password Administration
The findings within the Blue Report 2025 present that, sadly, many organizations are nonetheless weak to the silent menace of password cracking and compromised accounts. And whereas strengthening perimeter defenses continues to be a precedence, it is also clear that core weaknesses lie in credential administration and inner controls. The report additionally highlighted the truth that infostealers and ransomware teams are leveraging these gaps successfully.
For those who’re able to take proactive steps to harden your safety posture, cut back your publicity, and prioritize your vital vulnerabilities, the Blue Report 2025 gives invaluable insights to point out you the place to focus. And at Picus Safety, we’re all the time completely satisfied to speak about serving to your group meet its particular safety wants..
Remember to get your copy of The Blue Report 2025 and take proactive steps at present to enhance your safety posture.
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