Jacky Wu, WatchGuard Taiwan Region Sales Director

In the survey results of WatchGuard's first quarter Internet security report, 50 percent of government and military employee LinkedIn passwords were weak enough to be cracked in less than two days. This finding, along with the emergence of the Mimikatz credential-stealing malware as a top threat and the popularity of brute force login attacks against web applications, underscores the reality that passwords alone can’t offer sufficient protection, and emphasizes the need for multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions in every organization.

“Authentication is the cornerstone of security, and we’re seeing overwhelming evidence of its critical importance in the common trend of password- and credential-focused threats throughout Q2 2018,” said Corey Nachreiner, chief technology officer at WatchGuard Technologies. “Whether it’s an evasive credential-stealing malware variant or a brute force login attack, cyber criminals are laser-focused on hacking passwords for easy access to restricted networks and sensitive data. At WatchGuard, these trends are driving new innovative defenses within our product portfolio, including AuthPoint, our Cloud-based multi-factor authentication solution and our IntelligentAV service, which leverages three malware detection engines to prevent malware strains that evade traditional signature-based antivirus products. Every organization should seek out vendor and solution provider partners that offer layered protection against these ever-evolving attack techniques.”

The most important reports for the second quarter of 2018 include: Cryptocurrency miners earn spot as a top malware variant、Cyber criminals continue to rely on malicious Office documents, Please refer to the WatchGuard website for a detailed report.