It’s not high-tech. It’s not dramatic. But it works.
It's called "credential stuffing," and it's a quiet kind of cyberattack that takes advantage of a very human habit: reusing passwords. For businesses, it’s one of the fastest-growing threats you may not even see coming, and ironically, you may actually be at fault.
What Is Credential Stuffing?
Credential stuffing happens when hackers use stolen login credentials—usually from unrelated data breaches—and try them across other websites and systems. Since many people reuse the same passwords across personal and professional accounts, these recycled logins often work.
Once inside, attackers don’t need to break anything. They just log in—and from there, they can steal data, impersonate users, send fake invoices, or gain deeper access into your systems.
Why This Matters for Businesses
This isn’t just a problem for individual users. Credential stuffing directly targets business systems:
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Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace
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Cloud storage and file sharing (SharePoint, Dropbox, etc.)
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Remote access systems (VPN, RDP)
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Payroll, accounting, and CRM platforms
Once one password works, attackers can do real damage before anyone notices.
The risks include things like:
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Data breaches that may violate privacy laws or client contracts
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Business email compromise, leading to wire fraud or phishing
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Compliance violations for industries like healthcare, finance, and insurance
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Downtime, lost productivity, and reputation damage
Why Employees Reuse Passwords
We often ask a lot from our teams, when it comes to passwords, because we've always been told that it's the best way to make things "secure". We're told they have to:
- Make them complex
- Update them frequently
- Never write them down
So they reuse passwords because it’s easier—and in a high-speed workday, convenience usually wins.
Where did we get these ideas from? Actually it was from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that came up with those ideas, many years ago. What most people don't know is that, in recent years, NIST has updated its guidance:
"Don’t force frequent password changes unless there’s evidence of a breach."
Why? Because making users change passwords every 60 or 90 days often leads to bad habits—like writing them down or using weak variations.
Instead, NIST now recommends longer, unique passwords that don’t have to change unless there’s a good reason. That’s why password managers are so important.
Why Password Managers Help
A password manager securely stores and often can even autofill unique passwords for each system an employee uses. Since the user is no longer responsible for remembering lots of passwords - except their password manager password, this prevents password reuse and improves security without slowing anyone down.
Benefits include:
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Unique passwords for every login
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Automatic filling of credentials on legitimate sites (reducing phishing risk)
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Team-friendly features, like secure password sharing and centralized management
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Easy offboarding, revoking access when someone leaves the company
If your business isn’t using a password manager, your team is likely cutting corners—whether they mean to or not.
What You Can Do Right Now
Credential stuffing is preventable. Here’s what we recommend:
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Enforce long, unique passwords
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Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) everywhere it’s available
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Adopt a business-grade password manager
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Monitor your domain for breached credentials
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Train your team on safe password habits
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Audit and disable unused accounts
At B’more Secure IT, we help businesses put these protections in place—quickly, affordably, and without disrupting daily work.
Want help checking if your team’s credentials have been exposed in a breach? Let’s talk.