Brute Force Attack

Imagine that someone is trying to open your door lock … by trying keys one by one. Without much trickery. Just stupidly, consistently, until it fits. Not the most elegant way, right? But in the world of cyber threats, this method is called in its own way – Brute Force Attack, or in Russian – “attack by brute force”.

Unlike sophisticated viruses and phishing, this is as simple as it gets: a list of passwords is taken (or generated automatically), and the computer simply tries them one by one until it finds the right one. It’s like cracking a safe, starting with 0000 and going all the way to 9999. Boring? Yes. But unfortunately, it’s often effective, especially if someone uses weak passwords like 123456 or password.

We’ll break and cover all the most important information about BFA.

Ready? Then let’s go – without complicated terms, as if you’re telling a friend over coffee.

What is a Brute Force Attack

The essence is very simple. A hacker wants to get into the system. He doesn’t have your password, but he knows where to enter it. And he decides, “Okay, I’ll just try everything.”

And it’s not a joke — he runs a script that tries:

• millions of possible character combinations;
• popular passwords from leaks (qwerty, letmein, admin123);
• birth dates, pet names, favorite teams — anything that could be a password.

 Why does BFA work?

• People still set weak passwords.
• Many systems don’t set a limit on the number of login attempts.
• Computers can brute force passwords in milliseconds.

Sometimes the attack takes minutes, sometimes it takes days. But if the system isn’t protected, the result is the same: access is gained.

How Brute Force Works Step-by-Step

Let’s break down the steps to see how it works.

1. The hacker determines the target, let’s say it’s a login form on a website, such as login.example.com.
2. A list of usernames is generated, if the target is accounts, the username may be known (for example, email). Sometimes, usernames are tried first.
3. A list of passwords is generated, there are two options:
   • Dictionary Attack – uses a pre-generated list of popular passwords;
   • Pure Brute Force — all possible combinations of characters (letters, numbers, and symbols) are tried.
4. Automated brute force, the program (for example, Hydra, Burp Suite, or John the Ripper) sends hundreds or thousands of requests per minute.
5. If a match is found, the login is successful, the hacker gains access. Sometimes it’s to email, and sometimes it’s to the website’s administration. The rest is up to the imagination.

Types of Brute Force Attacks

Yes, brute force sounds like “breaking down a door with a battering ram”. But it’s not always that straightforward. Hackers have evolved – and now brute force can be… quite smart.

Here are the main varieties:

1. Classic Brute Force
   The most “head-on” method. Just trying all possible combinations of characters, starting with a, aa, aaa and so on. Long, but reliable — especially against short and simple passwords.
   Problem: requires a lot of time and resources, especially if the password is long.
2. Dictionary Attack
   Instead of a full brute force, a pre-prepared list of popular passwords is used. This is often based on real-life leaks, such as hacked databases, forums, social media, etc.
   Trick: if you use a password like qwerty2023, it’s almost certainly on this list.
3. Hybrid Attack
   This is a mix between classic and dictionary attacks. For example, the system takes a word from the list (football) and adds numbers to the end (football123). Or it replaces letters with similar characters (p@ssw0rd).
   Why it’s dangerous: many people “complicate” their passwords, thinking it will help. But no, such schemes have long been programmed in attacks.
4. Credential Stuffing
   Look, if your data has leaked from one site (for example, email and password from an old game), then a hacker can try the same data on other sites – Gmail, Facebook, online stores.
   Statistics are sad: 65% of people use the same password in several places. And this is a huge vulnerability.
5. Reverse Brute Force
   Here, on the contrary, they take one popular password (for example, 123456) and try it on thousands of logins. This works especially well if the logins are predictable, such as admin, user1, or ivanov@mail.ru.

Why Does Brute Force Still Work?

It would seem that technology is growing, passwords have become more complex, and there is a two-factor authentication. However, the news is filled with reports of “thousands of user accounts hacked,” “database attacks,” and “leaks.”

Why? Here are some honest reasons:

• People –  And hackers know it
  • They use passwords like password1, 123456, and qwerty.
  • Repeat the same passwords.
  • Don’t update passwords for years.
• Developers Don’t Always Think About Security. Sometimes the security is simply missing or outdated.
  Not all systems:
  • Limit the number of login attempts
  • Check for suspicious activity
  • Use two-factor authentication
• Laziness And Hope For “Maybe”, many people think: “Well, who will hack me, I’m not the president.” And then they receive a notification: “Login was performed from Nigeria.”

What Does Brute Force Look Like In Real Life?

Let’s imagine: there is a website with a login form. You need to enter an email and a password.

A hacker launches a program. It:

• Loads a list of email addresses (for example, from a leak)
• Loads a list of popular passwords
• Starts to substitute pairs one by one and send requests

Meanwhile, the hacker is just drinking tea — the program does everything on its own.

Protection from a Brute Force Attack: 10 Realistic Ways

1. Long Passwords, not 123456, but something like: D0n’tGue$$Th!s2024. The longer and more diverse, the longer the brute force.
2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), even if a hacker guesses the password, they won’t be able to log in without an SMS or an app.
3. Login Attempt Limit, five incorrect attempts and a temporary lock. Simple and effective.
4. Captchas, yes, we don’t like them. But they’re the ones who stop bots from trying everything.
5. Rate Limiting, limiting the number of requests from a single IP address. It’s one of the main tools for protection.
6. Log Checking and Anomaly Algorithms, if I see 1,000 login attempts in a minute, is it suspicious? Yes! Let’s disable it.
7. Password Encryption On The Server, even if a leak happens, the hacker will only get “garbage”.
8. Using Password Managers, they generate complex, unique passwords and store them securely.
   Examples: Bitwarden, 1Password, KeePass.
9. Unique Passwords For Each Website, if there is a leak on one site, the other accounts will be safe.
10. Constant System Updates, this is especially important for site administrators and owners, as vulnerabilities are closed with patches.

Multilogin and Brute Force: An Obvious Connection

Many companies and researchers use Multilogin not only for account management but also for security testing. This is a tool that allows you to simulate different users from different IP addresses, with unique browser fingerprints and cookie sessions.

 This is useful if you want to:

• test how a website reacts to multiple login attempts;
• simulate attacks from different geographies (like hackers);
• see if the system gets confused under load.

Multilogin allows you to test vulnerabilities before hackers exploit them. And this is much better than learning from mistakes.

Human Factor: Why the Main Thing Is Not Technology, But Behavior

In any system, you can put dozens of layers of protection. But if the user puts the password iloveyou – all this is useless.

 Good cybersecurity begins with habits:

• use unique passwords;
• not to transfer logins in messengers;
• not to enter data from links in emails;
• enable 2FA;
• be careful, even if it seems “it’s definitely safe”.