Account Takeover (ATO) is a form of online identity fraud in which attackers obtain personal information such as a person’s Social Security number, location, and even bank account information. These attacks aim to steal a victim’s identity and then resell it to a third party for monetary gain. Implementing an account takeover protection solution is the best approach to spot an ATO assault.
In case of a successful account takeover attempt, the attacker can instantly conduct fraudulent activity on the eCommerce site after changing the delivery address of the victim, perhaps resulting in exorbitant bills before the victim detects that the account has been hacked. Spotify announced a data leak affecting 300,000 users in November 2020.
How does an account takeover occur?
Account takeover attempts can be carried out in a variety of ways. Here are a few typical examples:
- Social engineering
The attacker does research through open datasets, social media, and other portals, searching for fragmented information such as a person’s name, mobile number, or family members’ names. Attackers are able to then guess the password of their victims by using this information.
- Phishing
To get access to a victim’s personal information, the attacker creates a false login page or sends a fictitious email pretending to be someone the victim knows. Spear phishing is a type of phishing assault that is very targeted and misleading.
- Bot attack
The hacker uses rogue bots to launch a high-volume brute force assault on the website. Sophisticated bad bots can take over many accounts before they are discovered and change IP addresses from thousands to millions.
- Credential stuffing
In a credential stuffing assault, malicious hackers try hundreds of thousands of credentials on a target website in rapid succession. Customer data was stolen from Instacart in July 2020 and later sold on the dark web after a credential stuffing assault.
How can account takeover (ATO) assaults be detected?
Account takeover attempts on your website can be spotted by looking out for these key indicators:
- IP addresses from different countries
IP addresses from unusual countries suddenly appearing in large numbers is a good sign of account takeover. Using an incorrect IP address is possible if the culprit does not know the account owner’s original location. When an account’s access location changes within a short period of time of the preceding change, be very vigilant.
- Several accounts sharing details
To prevent the original owner of an account from accessing it, the ATO attacker may modify data such as email addresses or passwords after claiming an account successfully. When many accounts make similar modifications to shared information, this is a strong indicator that an ATO is attacking your site.
- Devices with unknown models
Cybercriminals use device spoofing to make it more difficult for you to identify the same device trying to access numerous accounts simultaneously. As a result, your operating system will mark these devices as ‘unknown.’ If you have a higher-than-normal percentage of unfamiliar devices, it’s likely that an account takeover effort is on its way.
What can be done to prevent account takeovers (ATO)?
- Check for hacked credentials
Account takeover protection begins with comparing new user credentials to a leaked credentials database so that you can identify whether a user has signed up with compromised credentials.
It’s also critical to periodically audit your user database for signs of data compromise so that you can tell any affected users as soon as possible. It is important to be proactive in alerting users and new signups when their credentials have been compromised.
- Establish upper and lower thresholds for login attempts
To successfully prevent account takeover, set rate limitations on login attempts depending on username, device, and IP address. Login attempts can be restricted depending on user habits, but you can also restrict the usage of proxies and VPNs.
- Notify users of account modifications
Always notify your customers when they modify their account to help them rapidly identify a breach in security. Taking these precautions may limit or even undo the harm if the offender manages to get past your authentication methods.
Eliminating The Potential for Account Takeover
- A Tracking System
When a user’s account has been breached, you should take steps to keep that account safe from future assaults. You can effectively sandbox a suspect account so that you can monitor all of its activity and, if required, block it.
- Web Application Firewall
WAFs may be set to recognize and stop account takeover attempts using targeted rules, even though they are not primarily built for account takeover detection. WAFs can detect evidence of brute force assaults and harmful bot activity.
- Artificial Intelligence-Based Detection
More complex bot assaults and Account Takeover attempts can be detected by AI-based account takeover security and detection software.
Detecting and efficiently thwarting account takeover attempts are critical for any website or business that offers password-protected accounts. It is possible to permanently harm your company’s reputation and lose customers due to a hacked website.
Hi, I am Adam Smith, Admin Of TechSketcher, Creative blogger and Digital Marketer.