What is a Brute Force Attack? Best ways to prevent a Brute Force Attack

If you think that a brute force attack is a thing that does not concern you, then we will have to disappoint you. Any website on the Internet can feel the full power of brute force attacks.

Think about how many accounts you have? Are all your website passwords secure? Or maybe you use one password for all entries so as not to forget it? The easier your website password is, the more likely it is to fail under a brute force attack.

Therefore, today the Wishdesk web support agency will tell you what a brute force attack on a website is and how you can prevent it.

Just contact us to avoid this issue. We ensure the maximum level of cybersecurity for your site at an affordable price.

What is a brute force attack?

A brute force attack is the most popular way to hack your website by hacking your password. This happens by repeatedly guessing your password and login until they are broken.

Today, such attacks are most often carried out using special bots, tools or scripts. Even a complex password can be broken. A good example of this was the cracking of an 8 character password in less than 6 hs.

Hackers use brute force attack to gain control over:

• user accounts
• administrative accounts
• links
• emails

and more

How brute force attack works?

To begin with, you have a person who for some reason does not love you and your business. Then this hacker will try to break your website. As we already said, most often hackers use special programs or scripts. They pick up passwords and logins to steal your data.

How to Identify Brute Force Attacks?

In order to identify Brute Force Attacks, you just need to watch out for unsuccessful attempts to log in to your site. As soon as you notice that within a short period of time, someone has unsuccessfully tried to log in to your site several times in a short period, this is already a signal for you.

In addition, Brute Force Attacks might be happening if:

• an unknown IP tried to enter your site several times from the same account
• someone tried to enter your site from a new location
• someone else's IP tried to login your site several times from different accounts

If you noticed such things on your site, you need to quickly make some decisions so as not to lose control over your site.

How long does a brute force attack take?

Your website may break in anywhere a few minutes to several days. It may sound paradoxical, but you determine this time. The more difficult and reliable your password is, the more difficult it will be to break it. 

A brute force attack is considered as one of the less sophisticated forms of hacking, which means that it is quite possible to prevent it.

Tips to Make Your Passwords Stronger

• create a long password
• create a password that is senseless
• use a mix of letters, numbers, signs
• don't tell your passwords to someone else
• change passwords from time to time

Four main types of Brute Force Attacks

As we already said, a brute force attack is an action that is used to gain access to data by guessing your password and login. There are various types of brute force attacks. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

1. Simple brute force attack

During a simple attack, as a rule, various methods are used to select your passwords and logins. Most often, this type of attack is used to crack local files, because there are no restrictions on the number of attempts.

2. Dictionary brute force attack

During a dictionary attack, hackers do not randomly select a password and login but use a special dictionary of the most common passwords. For example, they enter such common phrases as "admin," "welcome," etc.

3. Hybrid brute force attack

A hybrid brute force attack is a mix of various types with the aim of gaining access to your data. Such an attack combines both dictionary and simple attacks.

4. Credential stuffing

During credential stuffing, hackers crack your site with passwords and logins that have already appeared somewhere. Often users put the same password and login on all social networks and other accounts. Accordingly, if hackers break into one website, then they can easily break others.

Top 3 examples of brute force attacks

Brute force attacks are things from which no one is protected. There are large and small companies that have come across brute force attacks. Among the most high-profile examples of brute force attacks were on:

1. Magento in 2018. About 1,000 admin panels were subjected to brute force attacks

2. Alibaba in 2016. Millions of accounts became subjected to brute force attacks

3. Westminster Parliament in 2017. About 90 emails were a subject to brute force attacks

The above examples are definitive proof that no one is immune from Brute Force Attacks. To prevent this, you need to prepare! We will tell you what can be done to prevent Brute Force Attacks.

How to Prevent Brute Force Attacks?

Below we will share the top 6 most effective pieces of advice to protect your site from brute force attacks.  They will be effective only if your site is basically secure and supported. A combination of advice and a proper security support agency will give you the best results. Well, let's go!

The 6 most effective pieces of advice to prevent brute force attacks

1. Use stronger passwords

The easiest and most effective way to prevent the loss of your data is to create a strong password.

A strong password will be difficult to break if it is:

• unique to each new site
• does not contain keywords for your area that can be guessed
• consist of a large number of characters, the bigger, the better
• will contain not only letters but also numbers and signs

2. Limit number of login attempts

Another way to prevent hacker attacks would be to establish a limited amount of data entry. As we have already mentioned, brute force attacks occur through continuous data selection. Therefore, this method can help a lot.

• you can set 5 attempts to enter data
• you can allow someone to resuming attempts after confirming the owner’s mail

3. Use  CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs help distinguish between spam computers and real users. We are not saying that CAPTCHAs are a reliable way to prevent data theft. However, this is an excellent way to delay the time to get them.

4. Enforce two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is like a bulletproof vest. It uses a two-step process to login. Most often 2SV occurs through:

• SMS code
• email message
• fingerprints
• retina scans
• face scans

5. Monitor attempted logins

Monitoring login attempts is a good way to prevent your data from being stolen. If you notice that within a short time someone tried to enter your site a large number of times, then this should be a warning call.

6. Get the support of the web security agency

Time has shown that the best and most effective defense against brute force attacks is ongoing website support. This support allows you to protect your site according to the latest trends and be sure that your data cannot be stolen.

Brute Force Attack Prevention with Wishdesk

Security audits and ongoing website support are considered as the most reliable ways to prevent brute force attacks so far.

Security support agency Wishdesk will be glad to provide the security support for your site at an affordable price.