We all know that American Tech giant Microsoft (MS) has inducted a new login policy almost two years ago which urges its service users to use a single password across multiple service accounts.
For instance, a single username and password being used on Skype can be used on other services owned by Microsoft like OneDrive, Office 365 and others.
However as using one password is making users vulnerable to ‘Brute Force’, Phishing & ‘Credential Stuffing’ attacks, the internet juggernaut which owns all versions of Windows operating system is rethinking to drop the plan on using One Password on all its web services from early next year.
Recent research carried out by the Redmond Giant revealed that 62% of users are using the same password across multiple platforms. But this practice is leaving them susceptible to attacks where hackers are seen using software and a trove of password permutations to break into an account.
Password spraying is another menace seen in the usage of a single username and password.
According to a 2018 security survey conducted by MS, researchers noted that its cloud services were filled with over 300 million fraudulent sign in attempts per day. Moreover, its operating systems were undergoing more than 167 million malware attacks on a daily note along with 4K daily ransomware attacks.
“Since, the journey of digitalization has picked up in all forms across the world, using one ID and password for multiple accounts doesn’t make sense,” said Holger Schulze, CEO, and founder of Cybersecurity Insiders.
Holger suggests that the best defense against cyberattacks such as Brute Force and Credential Stuffing is Multi-Factor authentication. Using an OTP via SMS makes complete sense these days as it is free and is difficult to hack.
· Microsoft’s security survey on password suggests that 81% of hacking attempts happen due to weak passwords or stolen passwords from data breaches.
· It was discovered in the study that 81% of millennial reuse the same password despite knowing about the prevailing cyber threats.
· MS survey states that 70% of employees reuse the same password on all work apps as it is easy to memorize a single password.
· And over 59% of people are found reusing the same password on multiple web services like social media, email, and on dating & gaming websites.
Hope, you realized the threats encountered by password reuse…!
