We read about hackers in the news and how they gain access to networks, social media profiles, financial accounts and so on. One such attack is known as brute force attacks. Wikipedia defines this as, “In cryptography, a brute force attack consists of an attacker trying many passwords or passphrases with the hope of eventually guessing correctly. The attacker systematically checks all possible passwords and passphrases until the correct one is found.” Not only is this dangerous if the hackers succeed, which they will if given enough time and computing power, but even if they don’t, it can cause serious problems and even loss of money. How so?
Brute Force Attacks – What are they?
When brute force attacks are occurring, hackers are using software and are sending requests to your website server perhaps thousands of times a second trying passwords. As you can image, since the internet is not a series of tubes, these types of requests can use significant amounts of bandwidth. Many times during these attacks, your website may not load or load extremely slow. If you are managing your website yourself you must me alert to signs so you can identify these attacks.
There are some things that you can do to help defend against brute force attacks.
- Make sure users have complex passwords
- Setting limits on the the number of times a user can attempt to log in
- If someone exceeds those login limits, you should temporarily lock out these users
What is the best way to deal with brute force attacks?
No matter the size of your business you need to make sure that you are prepared. If you do not have the expertise then you need to reach out to a company that does. Red 3 Media has over 20 years experience in operating and managing large websites for even larger companies. Some of our clients have well over 100,000 pages with complex proprietary programing. We also have worked for years with clients in the financial industry. With this experience we can keep your website secure and up and running. We can’t stop brute force attacks or other ways that hackers try to maliciously gain access. We can however make sure you have the right people in place to know what to do when this happens. If you are not currently working with Red 3 Media, we encourage you to ask your current webmaster how they are prepared. If you are not confident in their answer, or if they are not performing to your expectations, reach out to us.
Red 3 Media
Red 3 Media is recognized as an industry leader in online advertising including mobile advertising, SEO, branding and Pay Per Click. With over 20 years of real world experience our comprehensive digital marketing solutions bring measurable results to our clients. So if you are frustrated with managing your advertising in house, or your current advertising company is not performing to your expectations, reach out to us. Contact us online or by phone at (877) 509-RED3.
