What is Brute Force Attack – Everything You Need to Know

Brute Force Attack is one of the most common cybercrime methods. These attacks generally occur on sites or servers that have a low level of security. Then do you already know about what is Brute Force Attack?

Brute force attack crimes include a type of cracking that utilizes the use of computers that can quickly guess passwords, find hidden URLs, or break encrypted passwords.

Brute force attacks target many personal user accounts to large companies with malicious intent. After getting access to enter by force with brute force, then the system in it can be exploited freely by crackers.

Table of Contents

• What Is Brute Force Attack?
• Types of Brute Force Attack
  • 1. Simple Brute Force Attack
  • 2. Brute Force Attack Dictionary Method
  • 3. Credential Stuffing
  • 4. Brute Force Hybrid
  • 5. Reverse Brute Force Attack
• Causes of Brute Force Attack
• How to Avoid Brute Force Attack
  • 1. Use a Strong Password Combination
  • 2. Add Captcha Verification
  • 3. Limit the Number of Login Failures
  • 4. Added 2 Factor Authentication
• Conclusion

What Is Brute Force Attack?

Before discussing further about what is Brute Force Attack, first you need to know the meaning of cyber attack. The goal is to be able to get more detailed and complete information about brute force attacks.

Brute force is a trial-and-error method by which applications can ‘read’ or guess login information such as usernames and passwords and then gain access to an account/system/website.

Although it looks simple, brute force attacks account for at least 5% of cases of security breaches on sites or servers. Brute force attack can be said to be the same as a thief who tries to enter the victim’s house by force using several keys.

Read: What is Adware? Cybercime you need to Get Off

In carrying out their actions, hackers generally use a number of methods and tools. For example, using certain applications and scripts to be able to get login credentials from sites or websites of potential victims.

At first, Brute Force Attack was done manually by hackers. But now crackers just use bots that will automatically guess the username and password. So the process only takes a few seconds if the password combination is weak.

Meanwhile, if the combination of login credentials owned by the user is strong enough, it can take hours to days. Therefore, it is highly recommended to set the password combination as strong as possible so that it is not easily cracked by hackers.

Types of Brute Force Attack

After knowing what is Brute Force Attack, you also need to understand about the types of Brute Force Attack that are common. For information, here are some types of Brute Force Attacks that usually attack certain sites or servers.

1. Simple Brute Force Attack

The first type of Brute Force Attack is the Simple Brute Force. Hackers try to guess user login credentials manually without using software. This attack is simple because many people still use weak passwords.

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Simple Brute Force attacks target sites or servers with weak password combinations. For example “password 123” and so on. In addition, passwords can also be guessed by hackers who have carried out previous snooping to crack someone’s potential passwords, such as the name of a family member, date of birth, or their favorite band.

2. Brute Force Attack Dictionary Method

The next type of Brute Force Attack is the Dictionary Method. The dictionary method or “dictionary attack” is done by searching the dictionary and changing words with special characters and numbers. This type of attack is usually time consuming and has a low chance of success compared to newer and more effective attack methods.

Dictionary attack is the most basic tool in brute force attack. While not always successful, it is often used as a critical component for password cracking. In this method, the hacker will use all the words from the dictionary and be tested one by one to find the password. Crackers also add a combination of numbers and symbols to hack longer passwords.

3. Credential Stuffing

The next type of Brute Force Attack is Credential Stuffing. Attackers collect the stolen username and password combinations, which they then test on other websites. This approach might work if people use the same username and password combination or reuse passwords for different social media profiles or multiple websites.

Therefore, to avoid unwanted things from happening, make sure that you use a strong and different password for each account or server. The goal is to reduce the risk of password cracking.

4. Brute Force Hybrid

Brute Force attacks can also occur through several different types. This method is known as Hybrid Brute Force Attack. A hybrid brute force attack combines a simple brute force attack with a dictionary attack method. It starts with external logic to determine which password variation is most likely to work, and then proceeds with a simple approach of trying out many possible variations.

5. Reverse Brute Force Attack

The next type of Brute Force Attack is the Reverse Brute Force Attack. This method uses a common password or set of passwords against many possible usernames. Targets a network of users whose data the attacker has previously obtained.

Read: 13 Types of Cybercrime, Stay Away from Them!

In the Reverse Brute Force Attack method, hackers will try one password for several different users. Imagine if you know the password but don’t know the username. In this case, you can try the same password and guess different usernames until you find a suitable combination.

Causes of Brute Force Attack

After reading about what is Brute Force Attack, you may be asking about the cause of the attack. Actually Brute Force attacks occur due to one common cause that is almost the same.

A common cause of Brute Force Attacks is the condition of weak and easy to guess passwords. Passwords that are easy to guess as well as weak will allow hackers to easily access your site or server.

When hackers can easily steal account credentials, they can do many things. Including data theft and exploiting it for the financial gain of the hackers.

Some passwords that are often found on the brute force list are date of birth, child’s name, qwerty, 123456, abcdef123, a123456, abc123, password, asdf, hello, welcome, zxcvbn, Qazwsx, 654321, 123321, 000000, 111111, 987654321, 1q2w3e, 123qwe, qwertyuiop, gfhjkm, and many more.

If you use a password from one of the password lists that have been frequently hit by brute force attacks, immediately change it to a safer combination in order to protect your account from harm.

How to Avoid Brute Force Attack

Despite being one of the most common cyber crimes, Brute Force Attacks can actually be avoided. You need to implement preventive measures so as not to become the target of brute force attacks, especially if you own a company, because even every individual has the potential to become a target.

For your information, here are some tips that can be used to prevent Brute Force Attacks from occurring:

1. Use a Strong Password Combination

As already stated in the discussion about what is Brute Force Attack, this attack targets a site or server with a weak password combination. A weak, easy-to-guess password will make it easier for hackers to steal login credentials.

Therefore, to prevent this from happening, make sure you use a strong password combination that is not easily guessed. You can use random combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols with sufficient character length.

Read: What is Network Security: Types and Functions

You can also use a password generator tool combined with random characters to get a strong password (strength). Using a strong password combination will make it harder for hackers to steal those login credentials.

2. Add Captcha Verification

When performing a Brute Force Attack, hackers will usually use bots to carry out their actions. The use of bots will make the process of attempting to steal login credentials faster and more effective.

To reduce the risk of being hacked by bots, you can add a captcha to the login form to distinguish between human and robotic logins. The existence of such captcha verification will make login attempts by bots more limited.

3. Limit the Number of Login Failures

The next tip that can be used to prevent Brute Force Attacks is to limit the number of login failures. Limiting the number of login attempts will protect the website from repeated failed login attempts. So that it will be able to reduce the risk of Brute Force Attack attacks on the site or server.

4. Added 2 Factor Authentication

Two Factor Authentication (2FA) will prevent bruteforce by confirming on another device. The use of 2FA will reduce the risk of login credential theft because logging into a site or server requires two more secure verifications.

Conclusion

Brute Force Attack is a crime that is quite common in the digital world. Brute force is a form of cracking attack that targets the security of usernames and passwords to gain access to the system.

In general, the cause of brute force itself actually comes from users who pay less attention to security aspects, especially usernames and passwords. Therefore, make sure that you use a strong and not easy to guess password and username.

That’s a complete discussion of what is Gross Force Attack that you need to know. After reading the article, hopefully you can understand more fully about Brute Force Attacks and also how to prevent these attacks.