# What is a brute-force attack?

A brute-force attack tries passwords one after another until one works, against an email login, a VPN, a remote desktop or an SSH server. Modern versions use lists of leaked passwords, or try one common password against many accounts (password spraying) to avoid lockouts. The defences are well known: long unique passwords, two-factor authentication, account lockout and not exposing login services to the whole internet. The login logs of the service are the definitive record. On the network, many failed connections to a login service in a short time form a visible pattern, and NetSenX looks for it on every plan, on traffic it can see.

FAQ: [What is…? Network and security terms](https://netsenx.com/en/faq/glossary) · https://netsenx.com/en/faq/what-is-a-brute-force-attack

## Read next

- https://netsenx.com/en/what-is-ndr
- https://netsenx.com/en/problems-we-solve

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