Authentication is the front door of your application — and if that door has cracks, attackers will find their way in.
🔍 What are Identification & Authentication Failures?
These occur when apps improperly manage user identities and authentication mechanisms — exposing systems to brute force attacks, credential stuffing, or session hijacking.
🧪 Example
Imagine an app with no limit on login attempts. An attacker could run a script to try thousands of password combinations — and eventually, they will get in. Or consider an app that doesn’t invalidate old sessions after password changes — a backdoor stays open even after a breach.
✅ Best Practices to Mitigate This
- Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): One of the easiest and most effective layers of defense. Require it for all users — especially admins.
- Implement Strong Password Policies: Encourage passphrases, disallow weak or breached passwords, and store them securely using strong hashing algorithms (e.g., bcrypt, Argon2).
- Use Modern Authentication Mechanisms: Prefer established protocols like OAuth2.0 and OpenID Connect. Avoid rolling your own auth.
- Limit Login Attempts and Use Lockout: Throttle requests, alert on brute force patterns, and implement CAPTCHA where appropriate.
- Secure Session Management: Invalidate sessions on logout and password changes. Use secure, HttpOnly cookies with short timeouts.
- Avoid Hardcoded or Default Credentials: These are often forgotten during deployments — and easily discovered by attackers.
🛡️ Authentication is more than a login form. It’s the foundation of trust between your app and its users.
Build it strong. Test it often. Never take it for granted.