In recent years, security teams have grappled with an unprecedented surge in leaked credentials, intensifying the challenge of protecting sensitive corporate data. Credentials have become the preferred initial attack vector because they're quieter and more effective than probing networks for vulnerabilities. Remote work environments further increased the risks, making credentials easy prey for malware like infostealers.

The Old Way: Challenges Security Teams Struggled With

Traditional methods of credential detection and management posed significant difficulties:

1. Exploding Credential Volume: Massive credential leaks, especially new formats like combolists containing billions of entries, overwhelmed conventional processing capabilities. Legacy systems struggled with slow parsing speeds, delays, and scalability issues.

2. Complexity and Changing Formats: Previously, credential leaks were simpler—typically just an email and password combination. Today, infostealers capture detailed combinations of URLs, logins, and passwords. Security teams had to adapt quickly, configuring more granular filters to manage and prioritize alerts accurately.

3. High Error Rates: Earlier systems relied solely on regex (regular expressions) to extract credentials. While fast, this method frequently resulted in high error rates—both false positives (incorrect data flagged as credentials) and false negatives (missed genuine credentials).

4. Manual Pre-processing: Before automated solutions, security teams manually pre-processed large credential files, a process that was slow, error-prone, and increasingly unsustainable as data volumes skyrocketed.

These challenges exposed critical gaps in credential management and demanded more advanced technological solutions.

The New Way: Automated, Intelligent Credential Management

To tackle these challenges, Axur developed a hybrid, AI-driven approach that blends automation, machine learning, and advanced heuristics, revolutionizing how security teams manage credential leaks.

Axur’s DataHub for Scalability

Axur’s DataHub enables automated processing of massive credential datasets, dramatically improving scalability and eliminating manual bottlenecks. Security teams can now handle billions of credentials quickly and reliably.

Intelligent Credential Extraction with AI

Traditional regex-based parsing methods were insufficient due to the complexity and variability of credential data. Axur implemented a multi-layered AI pipeline that addresses this issue:

• Initial AI Screening: Leveraging advanced language models (LLMs), Axur’s solution quickly identifies and prioritizes segments within leaked files most likely to contain genuine credentials, significantly reducing irrelevant data processing.

• Adaptive Parsing: Axur combines specialized parsers with adaptive heuristics optimized for different credential formats. This method dynamically adjusts to variations within credential leaks, ensuring precise extraction.

• Rigorous Validation and Auditing: Following extraction, Axur applies comprehensive statistical validation and heuristic checks to minimize false positives. This ensures security teams receive highly accurate and actionable credential alerts.

Proven Results: Accuracy and Efficiency

Implementing this innovative solution has delivered significant improvements:

• Reduced error rates to approximately 0.03%.

• Nearly eliminated the influx of incorrect credentials.

• Enhanced scalability, enabling seamless management of billions of credentials daily.

See Advanced Credential Detection and Threat Hunting in Action

Watch our video to explore how threat hunting and advanced credential detection combine to empower security teams. Learn how your team can rapidly detect and mitigate credential leaks and fraud attempts—before they cause damage.

Empowering Security Teams with Reliable Credential Intelligence

By adopting these advanced credential detection methods, modern security teams have transitioned from struggling with overwhelming data to confidently identifying and mitigating credential threats. Axur’s integrated approach helps teams swiftly respond to credential leaks, minimizing potential damage.

Ready to enhance your credential management capabilities? Connect with us to learn more.