A strong password reused across five accounts is only as secure as the weakest of those five services — and that's exactly what credential stuffing attacks exploit.

How credential stuffing works

When one service suffers a data breach, attackers don't just target that service — they take the leaked email and password combinations and automatically try them against dozens of other popular sites, banking on the fact that many people reuse the same login everywhere.

Why this is more common than people assume

• Data breaches happen constantly, often at services users forgot they even signed up for
• Attackers automate the stuffing process across thousands of accounts at once
• A single reused password can compromise an email account, which then unlocks password resets everywhere else

The fix is simpler than it sounds

Generate a unique, random password for every account using a password generator, and store them in a password manager. It removes the temptation to reuse a password out of convenience, since you never have to remember any of them.