Don’t Feed the Attackers: Keep Your Credentials Off the Menu

This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we’re exploring the four core pillars of digital security to help protect our food and agriculture supply chain. We’re kicking off the series with the topic of Strong Passwords and Password Managers — your first and most critical line of defense against cyber threats. 

In the food and agriculture sector, a cyberattack is rarely confined to IT. A single compromised account can disrupt business systems, supplier communications, production environments, logistics, distribution, and critical operations that keep the supply chain moving.

An attacker doesn't always need a sophisticated exploit to get started. Sometimes, all they need is a stolen password. According to Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), credential abuse played a role in 39% of breaches, even when it was not the initial access vector.

This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, our message is simple: Don’t Feed the Attackers. That starts by making sure we aren't serving up the credentials they need to get in.

Start With the Fundamentals

Strong cybersecurity doesn't always require an expensive new platform – it starts with doing the basics consistently.

Historically, passwords began as "watchwords" at military outposts to verify identity and keep unauthorized individuals out. Today, we rely on them to safeguard our most sensitive personal and organizational data. But as threat tactics have evolved, our approach to credential hygiene must evolve too.

Here is how you can strengthen your line of defense today:

• Longer is More Secure: When it comes to passwords, length beats complexity alone. Aim for 16 characters or longer whenever possible.

• Randomize to Optimize: Avoid obvious, identifiable information like birthdates, hometowns, or pet names. Focus on  a  unique mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols.

• Pro-Tip — Use Passphrases: Combine unrelated words into a memorable sentence (harvestfreshapples) that is easier to remember but difficult to guess. Take it further by weaving in numbers or special characters (harvest365FreshApples!).

• Don’t Reuse or Recycle: Never reuse passwords across accounts. Unique credentials ensure that if one service is breached, your other accounts remain secure.

• Adopt Passkeys Where Available: A passkey is a modern, passwordless login method that lets you sign in to websites and apps using your device's built-in security — like your fingerprint, face scan, or PIN. Because passkeys rely on cryptographic key pairs unique to each site, they cannot be guessed, stolen in a data breach, or tricked away by phishing attacks.
  

• Change Exposed Credentials Quickly: If you know or suspect a password has been leaked or compromised, treat it as exposed immediately and update it across the board.
  

Simplifying Access With a Password Manager

Managing long, complex, and unique passwords across dozens of personal and work accounts is difficult to do manually. This is where a password manager comes in.

Password managers act as encrypted digital vaults that generate, store, and auto-fill unique passwords for every site you use. Instead of remembering dozens of credentials, you only need to remember one strong master password (or passphrase!) to unlock your vault.

Finding the right tool is key. Take time to evaluate approved password managers for your personal devices and organization.

Need to check your current password strength? If your current credentials don't meet these standards or are reused across accounts, take a moment to update them today.

Beyond the Fundamentals: Think About Credential Access

A solid password policy is essential, but food and agriculture organizations must look beyond individual user accounts. Consider every entry point across your environment: corporate email, cloud platforms, supplier portals, logistics systems, remote access, production controls, service accounts, and third-party vendors.

To prevent credential abuse, keep these priorities in mind:

• Identify High-Impact Accounts: Focus additional controls and monitoring on credentials that could create the biggest impact, such as disrupting production, logistics, financial systems, or sensitive data if compromised.

• Clean Up Inactive and Shared Access: Regularly review and audit shared accounts, former employee access, stale vendor credentials, service accounts, and API keys. Attackers regularly target forgotten or unmonitored legacy accounts.

• Monitor External Credential Exposure: Watch for organizational credentials exposed through third-party breaches, phishing campaigns, or malware. Have a defined process for rapid-response workflow should there be a compromise.

• Harden Recovery and Reset Flows: A strong password offers little protection if an attacker can exploit weak password-reset channels or manipulate account recovery processes. Protect recovery channels, verify identity before granting access, and ensure help desk procedures cannot be easily manipulated through social engineering.
  

What Should Food and Agriculture Defenders Be Asking?

Use Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an opportunity to review how credentials are managed in practice across your operations:

1. Are we requiring long, unique passwords and giving employees an approved password manager to use?

2. Where can we reduce our reliance on passwords by introducing passkeys?

3. Which credentials would create the greatest impact if compromised?

4. Do we know what privileged accounts, service accounts, API keys, and other high-value credentials exist? 

   1. Do we know who owns, manages, and/or has access to them?

5. Are we monitoring for credentials that may have been exposed outside our environment?

6. How quickly can we revoke, disable, or reset a credential we believe has been compromised?

7. How secure are our password reset and account recovery processes?

8. Are inactive, legacy, or unnecessary accounts increasing our exposure?
   

For smaller cybersecurity teams, you don't need to fix everything at once. Start by prioritizing the accounts and systems that matter most, and expand from there.

Don’t Feed the Attackers

Every account connected to your network represents an access point that needs protection. Strong passwords, password managers, and passkeys make credential defense practical for workforce members across farms, production plants, offices, warehouses, and distribution networks.

Cybersecurity fundamentals aren't a one-time check-the-box activity; they are an ongoing effort to minimize the footholds available to an attacker.

Credentials are just the first layer of defense. Stay tuned next week for our second Cybersecurity Awareness Month post on multi-factor authentication (MFA) and learn how to add another barrier between threat actors and your organization.

Until then, keep the message simple: Protect your passwords. Use password managers and passkeys when you can. Know which accounts and systems your credentials can unlock. Don’t Feed the Attackers.