A brute force attack automatically tries thousands of username and password combinations until it finds the right one. Long passwords, lockout after several failed attempts and multi-factor authentication stop it.
Related term in this glossary: MFA (multi-factor authentication)
brute force, dictionary attack, password guessing, credential stuffing
Related terms
Phishing
Phishing is a message, almost always an email, that impersonates a trusted company or person so the victim hands over credentials or opens a malicious file. It's the entry point for most incidents in companies.
Malvertising
Malvertising (malicious advertising) is the use of online ads to spread malware or lead the victim to a fraudulent site. The ads run through legitimate ad networks, so they can appear on news portals or well-known sites without the site knowing.
Social engineering
Social engineering is the set of techniques used to trick a person into handing over information, approving a payment or granting access. It exploits trust, urgency or authority instead of a technical flaw, and phishing is its most common form.
Exploit
An exploit is a program or sequence of instructions that takes advantage of a specific software vulnerability to run code or take control of a system. It's the bridge between a known flaw and a real attack.
Data exfiltration
Data exfiltration is the unauthorized transfer of information from an organization's network to a destination the attacker controls. It's usually the last stage of an intrusion and is disguised as normal traffic (email, cloud, DNS) to go unnoticed; catching it in time is what keeps an intrusion from becoming a breach.
APT (advanced persistent threat)
An APT (advanced persistent threat) is a targeted attack in which a well-resourced group gets into an organization's network and stays hidden for weeks or months to steal information or set up a larger strike. Unlike an opportunistic attack, an APT picks its victim and moves slowly, changing tactics to avoid detection.
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