Dariy Pankov, known among hackers as “dpxaker,” funded a lavish lifestyle by selling password cracking software to criminals for just $250. (Source: Russian Malware Developer Arrested and Extradited to the United States, U.S. Department of Justice)

Powered by his program, hackers don’t have to sit in a dark room guessing passwords one at a time. With a little help from AI, dpxaker’s software can test thousands of password combinations every second.  

These hackers love pet names, birthdays, and they really love short passwords and reused passwords! Don’t make it easy for them.  

Create a Strong Passphrase or Password.

It only takes one compromised account to start a cascade of security issues. Once a hacker has access to someone’s NetID, they use those credentials to increase their successes with scamming other, distributing ransomware, and stealing information. Attacks like these have the potential to cause outages of essential IT services.

Federal and state agencies are reporting increased cyberattacks in response to current geopolitical tensions and targets are expected to include higher education. This increase is adding to various criminal and hacktivist attacks against research institutions like Cornell.  

Ready to update your password? Review the Best Practices for a Successful Password Update then Change your NetID Password.