May 20, 2015 By Shane Schick 2 min read

Cybercriminals use a lot of deceptive tricks to break into corporate systems, which makes a fake password project seem not only ingenious, but a sort of sweet revenge for beleaguered IT security staff.

IDG News Service, which first published a story about the scheme on sites such as InfoWorld, said the ErsatzPasswords program, as it is known, is the brainchild of a group of researchers from the Purdue University. It is not a completed project but an idea to be discussed at a security conference by one of its creators, Mohammed H. Almeshekah. Essentially, the fake password project describes a way of adding an element to a password via hardware before it is encrypted. As a result, cybercriminals who try to break into a leaked database would be presented with fake passwords, which would take them time to work through before they realize they’ve been duped.

As Effect Hacking noted, source code for ErsatzPasswords is already available for review on Github and takes advantage of the “hash,” or algorithms used to encrypt passwords, by using a “salt,” or extra value created for a service. Unless cybercriminals could get access to the module that was part of the ErsatzPassword process, it is unlikely they would find a way to get full access to a system without some brute-force type of attack. In other words, even if the Purdue researchers’ idea doesn’t completely protect corporate data, the fake password project could make it a lot harder for cybercriminals to steal data or do other kinds of damage.

Of course, malicious attackers are not without their resources and typically use third-party services to get lists of commonly used passwords to make their lives easier. But according to forensic security consulting firm LIFARS, the ErsatzPasswords fake password project would not only make such lists relatively useless, it could also allow network administrators to set up alerts when someone tries to use a fake password to hack into a compromised database. That might enable enterprises to take action before critical information winds up in the wrong hands.

The potential for passwords to be discovered or used against organizations has risen in recent years, to the point where some experts have suggested doing without them entirely. A PayPal executive, for example, recently suggested biometric identifiers might one day offer a compelling and safer alternative, even to encrypted passwords. Until then, it might be worthwhile for IT departments to consider whether ErsatzPasswords could be layered onto their existing security practices — if only because it might make cybercriminals’ lives a little more miserable.

More from

How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry?

3 min read - A major shift in how cyber insurance works started with an attack on the pharmaceutical giant Merck. Or did it start somewhere else?In June 2017, the NotPetya incident hit some 40,000 Merck computers, destroying data and forcing a months-long recovery process. The attack affected thousands of multinational companies, including Mondelēz and Maersk. In total, the malware caused roughly $10 billion in damage.NotPetya malware exploited two Windows vulnerabilities: EternalBlue, a digital skeleton key leaked from the NSA, and Mimikatz, an exploit…

3 Strategies to overcome data security challenges in 2024

3 min read - There are over 17 billion internet-connected devices in the world — and experts expect that number will surge to almost 30 billion by 2030.This rapidly growing digital ecosystem makes it increasingly challenging to protect people’s privacy. Attackers only need to be right once to seize databases of personally identifiable information (PII), including payment card information, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers.In addition to the ever-present cybersecurity threats, data security teams must consider the growing list of data compliance laws…

ICS CERT predictions for 2024: What you need to know

4 min read - As we work through the first quarter of 2024, various sectors are continuously adapting to increasingly complex cybersecurity threats. Sectors like healthcare, finance, energy and transportation are all regularly widening their digital infrastructure, resulting in larger attack surfaces and greater risk exposure.Kaspersky just released their ICS CERT Predictions for this year, outlining the key cybersecurity challenges industrial enterprises will face in the year ahead. The forecasts emphasize the persistent nature of ransomware threats, the increasing prevalence of cosmopolitical hacktivism, insights…

Topic updates

Get email updates and stay ahead of the latest threats to the security landscape, thought leadership and research.
Subscribe today