Brute force attack

1
Brute Force Attack

• WHAT IS IT AND HOW TO PREVENT IT!

2
What is a Brute Force Attack?

• A Brute Force Attack is the simplest method to
  gain access to a site or server (or anything that
  is password protected).
• It tries various combinations of usernames and
  passwords until it gets in. This repetitive
  action is like an army attacking a fort.

3
How it is done?

• Every common ID (for e.g. admin) has a
  password. All you need to do is try to guess the
  password. Simple, isnt it?
• Well, not really!
• Lets say if its a 4-digit-pin, you have 10
  numeric digits from 0 to 9. This means there are
  100 possibilities.
• You can figure this out with pen and paper like
  Mr. Bean did in the movie, Mr. Beans Holiday.
• But, the truth is that no password in the world
  consists of only 4 characters.

4
How it is done?

• Lets say if we have an alphanumeric 8-character
  password.
• We can have 52 possible alphabetic (normal
  UPPER Lower) combinations
• Now add the Numeric digits, i.e. 10.
• So, we have 62 characters in total.
• For 8-character-password, it will be 628 which
  will make 2.18340111014 possible combinations.
• If we attempt 218 trillion combinations at 1 try
  per second, it would take 218 trillion seconds or
  3.6 trillion minutes, or at most, around 7
  million years to crack the password.

5
Then, How Can It Happen?

• If you are interested in cracking passwords, you
  will have to use computers and write a few basic
  codes.
• But a normal computer wont do. You would need a
  supercomputer.
• After almost 1x109 attempts per second, after 22
  seconds, You should be able to break an 8
  character password.
• Computing resources of this kind are not
  available to common people. But hackers are not
  common people.

6
Thats Scary! What to do Now?

• It is essential to have additional layers of
  security in order to detect and deflect any
  password breaching attempt.
• There are many tools available for securing
  different applications which deny a user after a
  predefined number of attempts.
• For example, for SSH we can use Fail2ban or Deny
  hosts.

7
How To Prevent It?

• Take these precautionary measures to prevent
  attacks
• Create a longer password.
• Use UPPERCASE and lowercase alphabets, numbers,
  and special characters.
• Use different passwords for different accounts.

8
Am I Safe on Cloudways?

• Yes!
• Our security system is capable of identifying
  brute force attacks and banning IPs being used
  in such attacks.
• We are always at work to protect our Cloudways
  Platform and the servers hosted on it.
• SIGN UP NOW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!

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