What increases the potential for malicious attacks regarding credentials?

Having credentials in plain text significantly increases the potential for malicious attacks. When credentials are stored in a readable format, anyone who gains access to that storage—whether through unauthorized access, a data breach, or an internal threat—can easily read and misuse those credentials. This vulnerability arises because plain text credentials do not employ any form of protection or obfuscation, making them accessible for malicious actors to exploit.

In contrast, storing credentials in an encrypted format would provide a layer of security, as encrypted credentials cannot be interpreted without the appropriate decryption key. Similarly, multi-factor authentication further secures accounts by requiring multiple forms of verification, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access, even if credentials are compromised. Regularly changing passwords also enhances security by limiting the time frame that stolen credentials can be used.

Overall, keeping credentials in plain text poses a high risk, as it lacks any security measures that would protect against unauthorized access and exploitation.