For many businesses, account takeover (ATO) attacks are the most alarming compared to all the other cyber attack techniques. This is because apart from financial institutions, which are obvious targets for these attacks, cybercriminals are now also focusing on online entertainment platforms and e-commerce storefronts.

ATO attacks entail hackers gaining access to the compromised login credentials of a legitimate user account and exploiting it for their malicious purposes. In other words, attackers can pose as authorised users and cause damage while logged in to the account, such as plundering data, monetary resources, and anything else of value. Hackers manage to get their hands on such compromised credentials in different ways, including:

● Phishing and malware attacks

Hackers continue to use all kinds of different phishing scams to steal login data directly or trick victims into downloading malware to achieve the same goal. While other forms of social engineering can do the same job, phishing attacks remain the most prevalent method used today.

● Credential stuffing and other brute force attacks

Attackers can brute force their way into a user’s account on a different platform by trying out different passwords until they find one that works. Once they find a viable login credential, they try using it in many other applications. This is called credential stuffing, and it works because most people tend to reuse the same login across apps and systems.

● Data breaches

Lists of stolen credentials are among the spoils hackers take away from successfully executing a data breach. They can either use the stolen data themselves or make it public, allowing other hacker groups to use it themselves.

Signs of ATO attacks and how to prevent them

Most ATO attacks follow a similar approach regardless of how they access account login credentials. Be on the lookout for the following warning signs that an ATO attack may be underway;

● Company systems and applications experience abnormal surges in endpoint traffic at certain times of day or week.

● Customers get a sudden surge of promotions like gift cards that look just like your formal email communications.

● Storefronts may see an increase in order transaction volume that follows a suspicious ordering pattern.

● Behavioural patterns for system or app usage could happen simultaneously across several apps or IP addresses.

The signs listed above should put your cybersecurity team on high alert for an ATO attack. And while preventing such fraud attacks may seem challenging, maintaining a robust cybersecurity posture and deploying defences at every level of your organisation goes a long way to victory. Below are a few effective strategies to prevent ATO attacks from disrupting your operations;

1. Monitor and filter suspicious traffic from endpoints

Deploy a combination of endpoint protection mechanisms like web application firewalls (WAF) and hardware tokens to protect API services and any other critical apps within your IT infrastructure. Focus specifically on thwarting bot-based traffic, which, more often than not, logs in automatically from different IP addresses.

2. Look out for unusual access using fingerprinting

Digital fingerprinting techniques enable cybersecurity teams to recognise devices and equipment approved by the organisation and alert them to suspicious behaviour from hackers or bots using automation techniques.

3. Deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA)

MFA has long been a must-have as it provides an extra layer of authentication, which is especially vital for accounts on public-facing applications like online storefronts and social media. Including a captcha layer on top of MFA could also help distinguish legitimate customer access from bot-based systems trying to infiltrate your infrastructure.

4. Leverage behavioural usage analysis techniques

With the help of AI, organisations can more efficiently analyse customer usage patterns for unusual behaviour in real-time to allow for quick monitoring of IT teams and isolate potential attacks.

Conclusion

The increasing number of incidents caused by ATO attacks is prompting more organisations to assess their vulnerability risk against ATOs and find ways to prevent such threats. Thankfully, with the help of the tips above, excellent cyber hygiene from employees, and a strong cybersecurity posture, you can significantly reduce your organisation’s risk against ATO attacks.

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