Stolen account credentials played a part in the recent Target Corporation payment card data breach. With approximately 40 million customers’ credit and debit card information exposed, stolen credentials from a third party vendor highlighted the weak security that often surrounds internal passwords.
A recent report from Clearswift in fact found that 58% of all data security threats come from the extended enterprise (employees, ex-employees and trusted partners).
Reaction to this news included Dr Anton Chuvakin, research director for Gartner Inc. He said that enterprises are bound to encounter attacks using legitimate stolen credentials, regardless of the proactive security measures put in place to ensure credentials are safe.
