What Is Account Takeover? How to Avoid Account Takeover?

Cyberattacks have placed the data and assets of corporations, governments, and individuals at constant risk. With the rise of digital communication, cyber criminals have hacked several entry points for data fraud. Account takeover is one of the common fraud types in which the cybercriminal gains access to a user account, changing their login credentials or other sensitive data to make unauthorized transactions.

Account takeover fraud (ATO) has been on the rise in recent years. In 2019 alone, ATO attacks have cost consumers and e-commerce retailers a loss of a whopping $16.9 billion. To check the revenue loss, companies need to implement the right account takeover protection tools for continuous, real-time visibility to detect fraud cases and improve customer experience in your digital channel.

Cybercriminals target the account by automated credential stuffing, malware, and remote access tool attacks. Hackers also deploy phishing, spear phishing, social engineering, and botnets to access details about the customer's accounts.

The use of the right security measures can protect the concerned profile against account takeover.

How to Avoid Account Takeover?

· Security questions: After the user inputs the password, they have to answer the predetermined questions. This increases the probability of preventing any malicious login attempt.

· Two-factor authentication (2FA): With the connection of a different account, such as a phone number or any different email address, any unrecognized devices or IP address can be stopped from accessing the account.

· IP block list: The identification of the incoming login attempts generated from one IP can be a probable indicator of a malicious login attempt. A robust IP block list can help to mitigate such attacks.

· Login attempt limits: Setting a standard number for login attempts for any secure accounts will help to bring down spam login attempts.

· Device tracking: This identifies the login locations where any suspicious activity might be occurring.

· Web application firewall (WAF) configuration: An effective firewall can be configured for active recognition and mitigation of account takeover attempts via targeted protocols. This helps to identify the stolen credentials and assess any brute force hacking attempts and botnet probing.

· Employee education: Training and educating employees can help companies effectively mitigate the risk of account takeover fraud. Employees can be educated about the signs and symptoms of a compromised account, thereby helping them to identify the account takeover interactions or phishing emails.

· Sandboxing: Sandboxing helps to isolate suspicious applications or accounts from critical system resources. It provides an extra layer of security against cybercrimes to prevent any malware from attacking your system.

Account takeover fraud enables cybercriminals to steal the credentials of protected user accounts. This puts the sensitive data of the users at great risk. Companies need to remain vigilant against such attacks and implement the right methods to secure the data from any malicious exploitation.

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Created on Feb 19th 2021 01:05. Viewed 304 times.

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