Last updated on March 26, 2024
The Internet is expanding. With the increased exposure to the digital world, more people and more data lead to more data breaches and cybersecurity attacks. With more opportunities for attackers come more successful account takeover attacks. But what is an account takeover attack, and how to defend against this type of account compromise?
What is an Account Takeover Attack (ATO)?
An Account Takeover (ATO) attack is a type of attack in which a hacker takes control over an account by compromising a set of credentials.
Account takeovers always start from a malicious actor gaining unauthorized access to an account. After that, the hacker tries to claim ownership of the account by changing personal information: login credentials, email addresses, and phone numbers.
But how can hackers ever access your account?
How Do Account Takeover Attacks Happen?
Account takeover attacks have two common vectors: credential stuffing and credential cracking.
Credential Stuffing
Credential stuffing is a type of attack in which a hacker uses a list of compromised user credentials to try and gain access to a system. Many companies suffer data leaks and data breaches that expose the personal data of many people. User login and password are a typical pair among leaked information. Hackers have a list of credentials stolen during a data leak and try these leaked credentials against a target website. Most malicious actors use bots to automate and speed up the process of trying each leaked password on a website.
Nevertheless, hackers can use a credential stuffing attack across multiple websites. If you use the same login credentials on several websites, a data leak from one site can jeopardize the security of all your accounts that use the same set of credentials.
But sometimes, hackers do not have a list of leaked passwords. So, they try to crack the password and brute-force their way to your account.
Credential Cracking
Credential cracking is a type of attack in which a hacker uses a password-cracking method (e.g., a brute-force attack) to try different login and password combinations until they succeed. If your password is short and simple, hackers can successfully break the password in a reasonable time. On the other hand, if your password is long and complicated, hackers need more time to crack it. Still, brute-forcing the password is only one of many methods to gain unauthorized access to an account. Unfortunately, hackers have an arsenal of password-cracking tricks, and they may use each and every one of them.
While credential stuffing and credential cracking are common, it is important to note that hackers can take over an account in a plethora of other ways. Session Hijacking, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), SIM swap fraud, and Man in the Middle (MitM) attacks are only some of the other ways that can lead to a hacker taking ownership of your account.
What Are Some of the Most Popular Types of Account Takeover Attacks?
Here are some of the most common types of account takeover attacks.
Bank Account Takeover
The bank account takeover is one of the scariest types of account takeover attacks. And it is easy to see why. A hacker who takes over your bank account gets direct access to your money. The usual strategy after gaining access to a victim’s bank account is to change the personal and contact information such as your phone number or email. Hackers change your personal information to their own so that any security measures (such as Multi-Factor Authentication) will send authentication requests to the hackers and not you. Sometimes hackers use a stolen account to launder money. Notably, malicious actors can also use your account to make you an unsuspecting money mule or use the account to launch other schemes.
Mobile Phone Takeover
For multiple reasons, mobile phone takeovers are a hazardous type of account takeover attack. Firstly, people often store confidential and vital data on their phones. We access many applications and websites through our smartphones. As a result, mobile phones have become a common target of account takeover attacks throughout the years. Secondly, many Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) solutions involve a one-time password generated or sent to your phone. A hacker who takes control over your phone can easily bypass MFA authentication. A malicious actor can use one of the many SIM card attacks to circumvent the extra layer of security.
But remember that fraudsters do not even need to access your phone physically. For example, cybercriminals can conduct a SIM swap attack and start intercepting your one-time passwords sent via text messages. Also, after hijacking your phone, criminals can use the auto-recovery feature available on many websites to reset your passwords on all your accounts.
Email Account Takeover
An email account takeover can be disastrous. Most password resets hark back to your email. Consequently, hackers who gain access to your email account can use reverse engineering to find out what applications, websites, and banks you use and attempt to reset your passwords for all these services, which effectively means they can gain access to all your accounts around the web.
7 Ways to Protect Yourself Against Account Takeover Attack
Account takeover attacks are perilous. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to improve your cyber guards against takeover attacks.
- Change your login information after a data breach
- Enable alerts and notifications whenever possible
- Never reuse your login information across multiple websites
- Deploy Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Use additional security controls with MFA
- Increase the security of your email account
- Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)
1. Change Your Login Information After a Data Breach
Change your login information immediately if your bank or another service provider informs you about a data breach. Chances are, the hackers still have not used the leaked credentials to access your account. If you act fast, you will save your account from takeover. A word of warning, though. Be wary of scammers who try to impersonate your service provider to send you a fake notification about an account compromise. These scam messages often pressure you to immediately change your password by clicking a link inside the email message. Such a link often leads to a malicious website that looks like a legitimate site but is a fraud. If you receive such an alert in your email box, log in to your account independently and check the alerts there.
2. Enable Alerts and Notifications Whenever Possible
You will not change your login information after a data breach if you have no way to know that your account may be in danger. Hence, the recommendation to enable alerts and notifications that will inform you about account compromise attempts and account takeover attacks launched against your account. If possible, allow alerts on your bank account and a dedicated bank app installed on your phone. On the other hand, be wary of email alerts. Sometimes fraudsters send fake bank notifications via email to lure the victim into disclosing their login credentials.
3. Never Reuse Your Login Information Across Multiple Websites
Make it a point to have unique credentials on every site. If you share the same password across multiple platforms, a data leak from one of the sites can arm the hackers with your password that works on other sites, too. After they get your password, hackers usually try to use it on every website they can think of. If you use the same password everywhere, they will succeed and take over your accounts all over the web.
4. Deploy Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Deploying Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all your services considerably increases your security posture and protects you against account takeover attacks. MFA introduces an additional layer of security to your user logins and thwarts hackers before they gain unauthorized access to your account.
5. Use Additional Security Controls With MFA
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is extra secure, but a hacker who takes over your phone or looks up a one-time password sent to you via a text message gains an easy way into your account. Thankfully, there are many ways to increase the security of your Multi-Factor Authentication. The availability of additional MFA security controls differs depending on the security provider. Rublon offers additional security controls that decrease the likelihood of a successful account takeover attack. One of such security controls is a biometric lock on the Rublon Authenticator app. In addition, Rublon supports WebAuthn/U2F Security Key as one of the authentication methods and Adaptive Authentication in the form of Access Policies.
6. Increase the Security of Your Email Account
Undoubtedly, your email account is the centerpiece of your identity on the web. Password reset links, one-time password email links, and other important information are usually sent to your email address. To prevent a hacker from accessing your emails, enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your email account. You can also consider encrypting your emails.
7. Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) monitors HTTP traffic and abides by a set of predefined security policies to block any unauthorized data. WAFs can detect and block known attackers, bots, and brute force attacks. For example, if a session generates a lot of log-in attempts, a WAF can identify that behavior as susceptible and block it.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Account Takeover (ATO) attacks are some of the most common and dangerous cyberattacks. They can be destructive to your bank account, mobile phone, and email account. Thankfully, you can protect yourself against this form of attack in many ways. One of the best ways to defend against account takeover attacks is deploying Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
Rublon protects companies against identity theft, account takeover attacks, and other forms of cyberthreats by enabling robust Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) with Adaptive Access Policies and Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities.
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