Account Takeover: The Hidden Threat That’s Costing Financial Institutions Millions
Cybercriminals use prevent account takeover to steal money, spy on users or surreptitiously change accounts. They can then use this information to commit identity theft, add fake employees to payroll, or exfiltrate sensitive data.
Why You Need to Prevent It
In many cases, account takeover occurs when customers change their password or phone number online — and the financial institutions that handle these requests have little way of distinguishing them from genuine customer activity. These changes often occur a few times a day and require a holistic approach to identifying fraudsters in real time.
IPQS and Account Takeover Detection: How This Technology Can Help Keep Your Business Secure
One of the most common ways to prevent account takeover is to set a cap on login attempts and use device tracking or IP blocking to limit access to bots known to be associated with these attacks. Combining these methods with strong password hygiene will greatly reduce the risk of account takeover.
Protect Your Employees:
A common way for criminals to obtain credentials is by phishing victims with malware, email scams or other ploys. Training your employees to recognize phishing messages and compromised accounts is essential to prevent these threats from getting into your digital infrastructure.
Require Multi-Factor Authentication:
Passwords are only part of the solution when it comes to preventing account takeover, so you also need to make sure that your users use strong passwords with additional security measures like two-factor authentication or biometrics. These methods are more difficult for hackers to crack and will dramatically lessen the likelihood of account takeover occurring.