Exam SY0-601 topic 1 question 622 discussion

Password-spraying is an attack method where an attacker tries a few common or easily guessable passwords against multiple usernames. Instead of attempting numerous passwords for a single user (as in a brute-force attack), the attacker spreads out login attempts across many accounts using a small set of common passwords. They hope that at least one of these attempts will result in a successful login. We can see multiple failed login attempts (audit failures) for different usernames (USER1, USER2, USER3, USER4) with variations of "UNKNOWN USERNAME OR BAD PASSWORD." This indicates that the attacker attempted to log in with different usernames using a limited set of passwords. When they succeeded in gaining access to USER4 ("SUCCESSFUL LOGON"), it suggested that one of the username and password combinations used in the password-spraying attempt was correct.

I believe it’s Brute Force. Please let me know if I’m off in my understanding of the differences between Brute Force and Password Spraying: When I see password spraying, I see: User One (password attempt) User Two (password attempt) User Three (password attempt) And so on… When I see brute force, I see: User One (password attempt) User One (password attempt) User One (password attempt) User Two (password attempt) User Two (password attempt) And so on…

Using process of elimination: Question states they have account lockout in place. "Account lockout policies lock out an account after a user enters an incorrect password too many times. This helps prevent brute force and dictionary attacks". From Gibson, Darril. CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-601 Study Guide Leaving us with credential-stuffing and password-spraying. According to COMPTIA Official Study Guide, "credential stuffing is a brute force attack in which stolen user account names and passwords are tested against multiple websites". That is not being shown here. That leaves us with password spraying: With password spraying, the attacker chooses one or more common passwords (for example, password or 123456) and tries them in conjunction with multiple usernames", which we see multiple usernames being targeted.

The scenario described, where an attacker repeatedly attempts to log in using the same username with different passwords until the account is locked out, is typically considered a brute force attack. Brute force attacks involve systematically trying all possible combinations of passwords until the correct one is found or until the account is locked out due to too many failed attempts. On the other hand, password spraying involves using a few commonly used passwords or a small set of passwords across multiple usernames. The attacker tries these passwords against many different user accounts, hoping to find one that is vulnerable. Unlike brute force attacks, password spraying focuses on spreading the attack surface thin across multiple accounts, often to avoid triggering account lockouts or detection mechanisms.

Password Spraying looks like ; User1 : F*ckyouCompti4 User2 : F*ckyouCompti4 User3 : F*ckyouCompti4 Brute-Force looks like; User1 : Password1 User1: Spring2022 User1: Qwerty123!

Wouldn`t password spraying stop after 2 failed attempts ? Also it took only like 10 attempts, so I think credential harvesting, as they knew some old credentials to crack it so fast

Traditional brute-force attacks target a single account with multiple possible passwords. A password spraying campaign targets multiple accounts with one password at a time.

should be D: definition of spraying attack: It then picks a password and tries it against every account in the list. It then picks another password and loops through the list again. so it isn't spraying but just brutal force

passwords spraying is when a threat actor is tying to gain unauthorized access to an account by trying multiple credentials on multiple accounts. Why not brute force? - brute force is when an attacker is trying to gain access to one account by using multiple login credentials.

In a brute force attack, the attacker focuses on a single account and tries many passwords. In a password spraying attack, the attacker focuses on many accounts and tries one password at a time. Brute force attacks use large lists of possible passwords against a single account or a handful of known accounts. Password spraying attacks use common or default passwords against a large list of possible usernames. Must be C; attacker tries to spray on different user accounts.

How is everyone so adamant that this is a brute-force attack? You will get the same type of log output from a dictionary attack. Just from looking at the log, it's impossible to tell which is being used so both dictionary and brute-force mean the same for this question

Honestly it could be C or D but I think its closer to D since password spraying is usually taking one password and 'spraying' it to multiple users. Where brute force is multiple passwords on a single user. Now you can spray multiple passwords to multiple users and you can run brute forces on more than one user SO ... it really could be either, but I think its D since all the other examples of password spraying in these questions only show them using one password against multiple accounts.

I think this question is meant to trick you into thinking it's a spraying attack. The fact that the attacker is making several login attempts against a single account suggests it's actually a brute force attack.

D. Brute-force The whole point of password spraying is to avoid account lockouts. You try a couple of times and if it does not work, you move on..this is brute-force..the account is clearly locked after the 3rd attempt.

According to the time of attack, the attacker attack each account until he gets locks out before proceeding to the next account. This is technically more of a Brute Force attack.

Password sparying is aims for NOT locking out accounts, and here it happens. Even google says "using few passwordS on lots of accounts" so it depends on the lockout policy and the number of passwords sprayed on each acc. Considering all of this, it seems NOT a tipical password sparying. Altogh the attacker moved on from User3, without locking it out. The question misleading/have a typo too, as attacker did not have any foothold with User3. Confusing, unclear CompTIA thingie again.

The attacker is more than likely using the same common passwords for each user, hoping one works. It does on User4 after being locked out of Users 1,2, and 3. Password Spraying