Guide to preventing account takeover credential attacks are one of today’s fastest-growing cyberthreats. By exploiting stolen credentials, attackers gain unauthorized access to online accounts for nefarious purposes. This guide will provide you with a clear understanding of the threats associated with account takeover (ATO), and best practices for safeguarding your users.
How Do Attackers Gain Unauthorized Access?
Cybercriminals typically use a variety of tactics to gain account information including phishing, malware infection, brute force attacks, credential stuffing and compromised passwords. By combining these methods, they create a multifaceted threat that exploits both vulnerabilities in security systems and common user behaviors.
ATO attacks often target banking accounts to steal money, sabotage financial services to disrupt business operations and steal credit card or loyalty program data to commit fraud. Retail accounts, travel and healthcare are also common targets. Additionally, hackers are increasingly targeting government benefits such as Medicare to steal frequent flyer miles and other related perks.
The primary motivation for most criminals is monetary gain. They use victim’s accounts to transfer funds, fraudulently buy goods and services and sell validated login credentials on the dark web. In addition, attackers may sabotage an organization or individual to damage their reputation, e.g., by distributing indecent content on LinkedIn.
ATO attacks can be costly for businesses as they can lead to hefty chargebacks, lost revenue, brand damage and fines. To mitigate the risks of ATO attacks, implement a comprehensive incident response plan that includes timely alerts and proactive measures to identify malicious activity. Enforce a robust set of security protocols that require strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication. Encourage users to follow password best practices that include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters with a minimum length of 14 characters.