How To Defend Against Credential Attacks With A Hybrid Mesh Architecture
Check Point, September 30,2025
Credential-based attacks have reached epidemic levels. The 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) underscores the trend: 22% of breaches now start with compromised credentials, while Check Point External Risk Management found that leaked credential volumes surged 160% year-over-year.
Attackers increasingly prefer to 'log in' rather than 'hack in,' leveraging a flood of exposed passwords, API keys, and tokens circulating from breaches and dark web leaks.
For CISOs, the message is clear: identity is now the perimeter, and defenses must reflect that reality with coherence and context.
Key takeaway: Credential threats - from OAuth abuse, to API key exposure - demand identity-aware, unified defense architectures.