Are Your Weak Passwords Welcoming a Cyber Attack?
Passwords are your first line of defense against cyber threats. Using strong passwords might seem obvious, but compromised credentials were the leading cause of cyber attacks in 2024.
The risks associated with compromised credentials are even greater for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). With fewer resources dedicated to cybersecurity, SMBs often become prime targets for attackers looking to exploit weak passwords.
Understanding how compromised credentials put your business at risk — and taking proactive steps to mitigate these threats — can help safeguard your data, finances, and reputation.
Understanding compromised credentials
Compromised credentials typically refer to usernames and passwords stolen, exposed, or otherwise obtained by cyber criminals. Other examples include answers to security questions and details that might be used to verify an individual's identity.
Once an attacker has access to your business credentials, they can infiltrate your systems, steal sensitive data, and even use the compromised accounts for further attacks.
How attackers obtain credentials
Cyber criminals employ a wide range of tactics to steal login information, including:
Phishing: Deceptive emails or messages can trick your employees into revealing credentials
Credential stuffing: Attackers use previously leaked username/password pairs to gain access to accounts where your employees have reused credentials
Malware: Key-loggers and spyware installed on your devices can secretly capture login credentials
Data breaches: Large-scale breaches can expose millions of usernames and passwords, including those of your business, that are later sold or shared on the dark web
Insider threats: Disgruntled employees or contractors can intentionally leak or sell credentials
Complicating matters further, compromised credentials often end up on the dark web, where cyber criminals buy and sell them for use in further attacks.
Once an attacker has access to your business credentials, they can infiltrate your systems, steal sensitive data, and even use the compromised accounts for further attacks.
Consequences of compromised credentials
A stolen password might seem like a minor inconvenience, but it can lead to devastating consequences for your business, including:
Unauthorized access: Cyber criminals can infiltrate your business systems, email accounts, financial platforms, and cloud services
Business email compromise (BEC): Attackers may impersonate executives or other employees to conduct fraud. In fact, BEC was the leading cyber attack type in the first half of 2024, accounting for nearly one-third of all cyber insurance claims.
Ransomware deployment: Stolen credentials enable hackers to install ransomware that can lock your business out of its systems and demand payment for returned access.
Data breaches: Compromised credentials can expose sensitive customer and business data, resulting in legal and financial liabilities. Interestingly, data breaches can be both a cause and a consequence of compromised credentials.
Loss of customer trust: A security breach can damage your business reputation, causing customers to lose confidence in your ability to protect their information.
Why SMBs are especially vulnerable
Several factors make SMBs attractive targets for credential-based cyberattacks:
Weak or reused passwords: If your employees use easy-to-guess or repeated passwords across multiple accounts, it can increase the likelihood of compromise.
Lack of employee education: Without proper security awareness training, your employees may fall victim to social engineering tactics that trick them into revealing credentials.
No multi-factor authentication (MFA): If your business fails to enforce MFA, it can make it easier for attackers to access your accounts with just a stolen password.
Limited IT security resources: If your business doesn’t have the resources of a larger enterprise organization, you may lack dedicated cybersecurity teams or advanced security tools.
Third-party risks: If your business integrates with various vendors and outside service providers, it can introduce additional exposure, especially if those third parties have weak security measures.
How to protect against credential compromise
Preventing credential theft requires a proactive approach. Consider implementing these best practices to protect your business:
Enforce strong password hygiene
Require employees to use unique, complex passwords for each account and update them regularly. Provide a password manager to securely generate and store credentials — eliminating the need to remember or reuse passwords.
Educate employees about cyber risks
Regular security awareness training can help your team recognize and avoid scams. When employees understand their role in cybersecurity, they can become proactive defenders of your business. Without education, policy enforcement gets harder.
Implement multi-factor authentication
MFA can block over 99.9% of account compromise attacks, yet only 54% of SMBs say they’re using it. With MFA in place, even if attackers steal a password, they won’t get in without another verification step such as a mobile code, hardware token, or biometric check.
Limit employee access based on role
Follow the principle of least privilege—granting users only the access they need for their role. This limits the blast radius if an account is ever compromised.
Continuously monitor for phishing & threats
Use email security tools and managed detection & response (MDR) services to catch phishing attacks and other threats in real time. Also, vet third-party providers carefully, and ensure they follow strong security practices when handling your data.
Multi-factor authentication can block over 99.9% of account compromise attacks, yet only 54% of SMBs say they’re using it.
Coalition Security™ can help protect your business
Compromised credentials remain one of the most common and damaging cyber threats facing small and mid-sized businesses. Fortunately, Coalition Security* offers proactive, effective solutions to help reduce your risk and protect your organization.
By enforcing strong password policies and implementing MFA, your business can dramatically lower its exposure to cyberattacks. But even the best technical defenses can be undermined by human error — one of the leading causes of credential compromise. That’s why employee education is critical.
Even the best technical defenses can be undermined by human error — one of the leading causes of credential compromise.
Most successful credential theft and phishing attempts rely on tricking users into giving up their login information. Coalition addresses this risk with Coalition Security Awareness Training* that goes beyond generic videos. Based on real-world claims data, this training zeroes in on the specific phishing and social engineering tactics that most often lead to financial loss or a breach. Personalized and engaging, our training helps build a security-first culture that strengthens your organization’s overall cyber hygiene.
Yet, no matter what defenses you have in place, a determined adversary may eventually find a way in. Attackers often gain access to endpoints using compromised credentials, but a smart adversary won’t launch an attack in the middle of the business day. Instead, they tend to strike during weekends or after hours, when security teams are less likely to spot suspicious activity.
That’s where Coalition Managed Detection & Response (MDR)* makes the difference. Coalition MDR provides 24/7 monitoring to detect and respond to threat actor activity before it becomes business-impacting. If attackers breach your network using stolen credentials, MDR doesn’t just alert you — it intervenes in real time to evict the adversary and prevent further damage.
With Coalition, your business gets end-to-end credential protection, proactive prevention through training and security controls, and around-the-clock defense through managed detection and response. To help you focus on what matters most, our experts have created the SMB Cyber Survival Guide: a practical resource to ensure you're investing in the seven most critical cybersecurity areas this year.
