The Cost of Complacency in Credential Hygiene

In case you missed it, PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for K-12 schools, recently announced a breach that shook its extensive user base.  

Supporting over 60 million students and 18,000 customers worldwide, PowerSchool's platforms are integral to school operations, offering services ranging from student information systems (SIS) to college readiness tools. But this time, it wasn’t the functionality of its products making headlines—it was the fallout of a cyberattack that exploited stolen credentials.  

This incident, however, spotlights a troubling vulnerability: compromised credentials allow threat actors to infiltrate systems and access sensitive data. The PowerSchool breach, though details are still unfolding, serves as a reminder of how a single weak link in credential management can lead to widespread fallout.

Incident Details: How the PowerSchool Breach Unfolded

The attack began with hackers using stolen credentials to obtain access to PowerSource, PowerSchool’s customer support portal designed to assist school districts with managing their SIS.  

Once inside, the attacker exploited a maintenance access tool embedded within PowerSource, originally intended to support engineers in troubleshooting performance issues. This tool allowed the intruder to export sensitive information from the SIS database, which includes critical records such as student attendance, grades, enrollment details, and contact information for teachers and students. In some instances, the stolen data extended to highly sensitive information like Social Security numbers and medical records.

The PowerSource portal, intended as a convenience for engineers, became a devastating vulnerability. By leveraging its export data manager, the threat actor siphoned off entire tables of data into CSV files, leaving school districts across the nation reeling from the implications of the breach.

Credential Mismanagement: A Persistent Problem

While details of how the credentials were stolen are still unclear, this incident underscores an all-too-common issue plaguing organizations: account credentials that are either insufficiently protected or improperly monitored. A single set of compromised credentials granted the attacker access to the company's crown jewels, highlighting just how critical SaaS identity risk management really is. As PowerSchool works to rebuild trust and shore up its defenses, the broader lesson is clear—vigilant credential management is not optional in today’s sophisticated threat landscape.

Following the incident, PowerSchool reportedly deactivated the compromised credential and restricted all access to the affected portal. Additionally, they conducted a full password reset and further tightened password and access control for all PowerSource customer support portal accounts. All good actions to take, but for those impacted, these actions are too little too late.

Improving Credential Hygiene with Grip

Over 60% of breaches are tied to weak or reused passwords. Identifying these vulnerabilities early isn’t just good practice—it’s essential to mitigating breach potential. And that’s one of the ways Grip proactively helps secure SaaS environments: enabling organizations to uncover and mitigate risky credential practices before they become entry points for attackers.  

Grip’s advanced detection capabilities flag weak, reused, or compromised credentials, providing actionable insights to secure them. See how it works in this self-guided tour:

Closing Attack Surface Gaps

Hackers relentlessly search for gaps in your attack surface, and weak or reused credentials are easy targets. Credential stuffing attacks, where hackers test stolen login details across multiple platforms, rely on the likelihood of password reuse. This highlights the critical need for organizations to proactively identify and remediate poor credential weaknesses before attackers can exploit them.  

Grip enables organizations to:

Identify weak passwords: Grip scans SaaS environments to pinpoint users with weak credentials, providing a roadmap for enforcing stronger password policies or requiring SSO.

Detect compromised passwords: By identifying passwords that are already in the hands of threat actors, Grip helps companies enforce immediate resets, reducing incident response costs and preventing unauthorized access.

Address password reuse: Weak credentials are often reused across platforms, amplifying risk. Grip identifies these patterns and recommends corrective actions, like enforcing unique passwords or stronger access controls.

Building a Safer SaaS Environment

The tools that enable modern organizations to thrive—like SaaS platforms—are also where attackers look to exploit weaknesses. Grip secures SaaS environments by proactively monitoring credentials at scale, ensuring that poor practices like shared accounts, password reuse, or weak passwords don’t become pathways for attackers.

In today’s threat landscape, credential hygiene isn’t a "nice-to-have"—it’s a cornerstone of effective cybersecurity. With Grip, organizations can stop potential breaches before they start, safeguarding sensitive data, strengthening compliance, and protecting their reputation.

To learn how Grip can help your organization improve credential hygiene and strengthen your SaaS security, book a demo with our team.

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