The Art of Compromising Passwords: Lessons Learned from Security Assessments

Joel Coakley

Burning River Cyber Con

November 15, 2025

SlidesPasswords · Offensive Security · Pentesting

November 15, 2025

Slide deck

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Speaker

Joel Coakley

Senior Offensive Security Consultant, Depth Security

Former attorney turned pentester, Joel Coakley is a Senior Offensive Security Consultant with Depth Security. With an extensive background in consulting and network and Active Directory testing, Joel focuses on improving how technical risk is communicated to both small and enterprise organizations. He provides practical, prioritized remediation guidance tailored to each organization's environment and business needs. Outside of work Joel trains for marathons, spends time with family, and cares for his pets.

Talk overview

This session highlights five common categories of weak passwords frequently seen during password audits and pentests and provides concrete examples and mitigation steps analysts and administrators can use: Password Reuse, Breach Credentials, Accounts with Weak Policies, Tenant-specific Predictable Passwords, and Onboarding/Reset Schemes.

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